Impossible Desires
by B.C White
Summary: Rose Weasley finds life as a 6th Year difficult to cope with. As she grows more and more tired of life, she realises what the one thing she wants most is- Scorpius Malfoy. But Rose doesnt think he even knows she exists. Then one traumatic event brings the two together and Rose realises that maybe her dreams could become a reality.
1. Someone to Confide in

**Authors Note:**

**Ok, so here's some information you probably need to know:**

**Rose- 6****th**** Year Gryffindor**

**James: 7****th**** Year Gryffindor**

**Freddie: 7****th**** Year Gryffindor**

**Roxanne: 7****th**** Year Gryffindor**

**Lorna Creevey: 7****th**** Year Ravenclaw**

**Albus: 6****th**** Year Slytherin**

**Scorpius: 6****th**** Year Slytherin**

**Liam Chang: 6****th**** Year Slytherin**

**Jade Parkinson: 7****th**** Year Slytherin**

**Alexandra Smith: 6****th**** Year Slytherin**

**Chelsea Zabini: 6****th**** Year Slytherin**

**I know it isn't strictly true to the books, but it's how I imagined it. Enjoy!**

_Rose's Pov:_

I washed the tears from my eyes and took a deep breath. My head seemed to clear a little and I managed to glance up at my reflection in the mirror. Oh god, I looked terrible. My eye-liner had smudged and a trail of mascara trickled down my cheek. If that wasn't bad enough, my eyes now looked puffy and bloodshot.

I screwed my eyelids shut to stop myself from bursting into tears again. My hands were holding so tightly onto the sides of the sink that my knuckles were turning white. I was a wreck, and I knew it.

A high pitched giggle made me turn around, although I wish I hadn't. Staring back at me was Moaning Myrtle, my least favourite ghost at Hogwarts. And I really don't like ghosts. She floated over to me with a big grin on her face.

"Ooh, little icky Rose I crying. Who got your knickers in twist this time, Weasley?" She giggled again and this time swooped right though me. I felt my insides turn cold and my head went giddy for a second.

"Go away Myrtle. Isn't there a first year for you to annoy somewhere?" I shot at her and tried to get out of the girls bathroom.

"This is _my _bathroom, I'll have you know!" She screeched, leaving my eardrums ringing which was a pretty amazing achievement for a ghost. She soared out of the bathroom with such force that the doors slammed closed, leaving me alone once more. I muttered under my breath and picked up my school bag. I risked a last glance at the mirror and immediately wished I hadn't. Pulling my red curls over my face and keeping my head low, I headed to dinner.

Going to dinner was a stupid idea. After leaving the bathroom, I soon realised that I was late. The lack of students milling around in the corridors was enough to send the alarm bells ringing, and when I finally found a clock in one of the paintings on the first floor, I almost screamed at how late it was. I finally made it to the great hall and pushed the door just a little. When I say just a little, I mean that it was meant to be a little. What it turned out to be was a thunderous rumble as the door swung stiffly. I winced and slid my way into the hall. Everyone was staring at me like I was a freak or something. People whispered and giggled. I pretended not to notice, but I did. It was silly really, me getting upset or bothered by little things like other people's opinions. I shouldn't let it get to me. But it did, every time.

I slid into a seat next to James on the Gryffindor table. My cousin was a year older than me and looked like he should be modelling some underwear or something. He was tall and muscular with scruffy dark hair. He was also the heart-throb of almost every girl at Hogwarts- something I think he rather enjoyed. He gave me a smile that would have made any other girl faint. Obviously I don't think of him in that way- he is my cousin... But I appreciated the gesture.

"So where have you been?" He asked me, but as he did so he squinted, analysing my face. "Why are you eyes so puffy?"

"It's nothing, James. It doesn't matter." I looked around, and sure enough, heads were turned in my direction. And the few people who weren't looking at me were whispering about me to their friends.

"You've been crying again, haven't you Rose?" He made it sound like a question, but to me it seemed like more of an accusation. Luckily before I had a chance to make some feeble excuse, Freddie (another cousin) cut in with some crap about Quidditch. James gave me a weak but supportive smile and turned to Freddie who went on and on about this month's game against Slytherin. Freddie is the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team and James and he are Beaters. All Freddie ever talks about is Quidditch or girls, and I'm not really interested in either of them. But James really gets me. He understands my issues and problems, which is why I liked him so much. But more than that, he listens.

Although I hadn't noticed her, sitting opposite me was Roxanne, Freddie's twin. Whereas Freddie was white and looked just like his father, Roxanne had warm caramel skin and reminded me of her mother. They looked nothing alike and their personalities couldn't have been more different. Freddie was funny and sociable but Roxanne was moody, bad with people (especially boys) and found it hard to have a proper conversation without insulting someone. As her cousin, I kind of _had _to like her, but I wasn't particularly fond of her. So to say I was surprised when I looked up to see her smiling at me is an understatement. I gave her a nervous smile back, not really sure how to respond.

"Hi Rose, how are you?" She asked me, as if we spoke all the time, which we most certainly didn't.

"I'm ok, thanks. You doing alright?" I was trying to be polite, but I really just wanted to know what she wanted from me. Was it the answers to some test? When people spoke to me, that was almost always the reason why, but Roxanne was older than me so asking for my help seemed odd, surely she would ask someone in her year first.

"I'm ok, I guess. I was wondering..." Oh, here we go... What does she want from me? "Could I possibly borrow your owl? I need to send a letter to someone and I don't have one."

"Who is the letter to?" And just like that, the kind, glowing smile was gone, replaced with a cold scowl.

"It's none of your business! Keep your freckled nose out of my private life!" She almost spat at me and stormed out of the Great Hall, leaving me sitting alone speechless. Talk about anger management issues.

Freddie leaned over and gave me an understanding look. "Don't worry about her. Dad reckons she's found another boy and you know how she gets about them."

I nodded and stood up myself. James looked up at me.

"Where are you going?" He asked, looking genuinely concerned.

"Probably just to the lake. I've got a test to study for anyway. "

"Want me to come with you?"

"Haven't you got a girl to meet? You almost always have." That made him laugh. I cracked a smile.

"Not this time." He grinned. I knew he was lying; he'd probably made arrangements with five girls. But he was willing to cancel it, for me. It made me feel special. Not in a way a boy makes the girl he loves feel special. Neither James nor I felt that way about each other. He made me feel special as if he was my best friend. Which I guess, in a way, he was. He had friends- loads of them. He was one of the most popular guys in school. But I didn't have a best friend. Not really. So I guess James was the closest thing to that.

"So do you want me to come with you?" I nodded and grinned. James got up and together we walked, in silence, out of the Great Hall, out of the Castle and down to the lake. We settled under a tree that overlooked the mass of water. I looked up at the trunk and noticed some initials engraved in the wood. I looked closer and laughed.

"James, why did you feel the need to scratch your name into a tree? And who is L.E?" I asked.

"What?"James sounded confused.

"It says here J.P+L.E. And it's been surrounded by a heart. So, who is this L.E?" I giggled, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Ow!" He pretended to faint with pain. "Seriously though, that wasn't me. I don't know who wrote that on the tree, but it wasn't me."

"Oh please! It's your initials, James Potter!"

"It's also the initials of my Granddad." James muttered. My eyes widened in shock and realisation.

"Oh, sorry. I completely forgot... So L.E would be...?"

"My Gran, yeah. Lily Evans." Suddenly James didn't seem anywhere near as cheerful. Even his sweet smile had been wiped off his face, which rarely happened.

"Look, James, I'm really sorry. I didn't think. Let's talk about something else, ok?"

"Yeah, ok." He looked up at the rapidly darkening sky. "So, why were you upset earlier?"

"Who said I was upset?" I didn't look at him, hoping he would take that as the end of the topic. I should have known better.

"Rose, you're my cousin. No, you're my friend. I know when you're upset."

I sighed. What was the point in lying? James would only keep asking. "Alright, so I was upset."

"I knew it! What's wrong, Rose?"

"I-I don't know. It doesn't matter, James. I shouldn't have got upset anyway, it was stupid and babyish."

"No, Rose, it wasn't. I've noticed you smile less. You're almost always alone, or being picked on. It's not like you, Rose. You used to be so happy. What happened?"

"They happened." Rose could feel tears forming in her eyes, but she kept talking. "Albus and his friends. They just don't give me a break. I can't- I-" And then the flood came. I just cried, and cried. I couldn't stop. James wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close. I needed someone to confide in. I'd held it in for too long. As my sobs got quieter and shorter, James took his arm away and turned so that we were face to face.

"You ok now?" I nodded and sniffed. "Rose, I've never seen you like this. Albus is doing this?"

"Not really, it's more his friends. He just stands and watches.

"Well as far as I'm concerned, that's just as bad. Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" James asked. I answered honestly.

"I didn't think you'd want to be bothered by it. You're my cousin, not my brother. Besides, you've always been too busy with various girls so I never tried telling you." It was harsh, yes. But it was the truth.

"I guess I deserved that." I nodded, smiling a little. "See, that's better I chuckled a little. I looked up at the sky. It was getting really dark, and soon The Fat Lady wouldn't let us into the Common Room.

"Thanks for coming with me. It was good to tell someone. You should go and apologise to whoever you ditched to be here." I got up and he did the same.

"Nah, Lorna will forgive me."

"Lorna? As in Lorna Creevey?" I forgot to hide my shock.

"Yep." He didn't say anything else so she didn't comment. Lorna was gorgeous, with her dark eyes and auburn hair but she had a reputation of sleeping around. Then again, so did James... Thinking about it, they were a perfect couple.

"Are you going back to the Common Room?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's getting late. It must be after hours. I'll walk you back."

"Thanks." I smiled gratefully; glad that I wouldn't be walking back alone in the dark.

A squeal brought me back to reality. I looked questioningly at James, but he just shook his head and put a finger over his lips. I nodded to show I understood him and followed his gaze. First I saw a head of short, scruffy golden hair. Then the perfect face. Then the gorgeous body. Scorpius Malfoy. Without a top on. My eyes widened and I was partially aware of James whispering something to me, but I just couldn't take my eyes off Malfoy. Now I got a better look, he was wet. As in, soaked. He'd been swimming in the lake, I realised. But that squeal hadn't belonged to him, it was way too high pitched. James grabbed my arm and pulled me into his chest. At first I struggled against him, but then I realised he was trying to hide us both behind the tree. I heard another squeal, this time closer and several people attempted to quieten them down. I couldn't resist a peak around the tree trunk.

Three girls were running around in skimpy bikinis whilst two other boys walked in the direction of Malfoy. Jade Parkinson, Chelsea Zabini and Alexandra Smith finally decided to stop fooling around and came to sit down with the boys- on the other side of our tree. Malfoy came over to join them, followed by two other topless guys who I realised were Albus Potter and Liam Chang. Liam leant against the tree, looking as obnoxious as I knew he was, whilst Malfoy and Albus lay on the grass. Chelsea, a stunning girl with tanned skin and glossy black hair, went straight to Malfoy, dropped her body onto him and started making out with him. Jade Parkinson gave the bodies of Malfoy and Zabini (which were now moulded together) a cold, jealous look and went over to Liam. Liam was good looking I guess, but he was so full of himself, I was hardly able to stand being in the same room as him. Jade had cropped black hair and a pig nose. Alexandra Smith shook out her dripping golden hair and gave a flirty grin to Albus, who returned it. Smith slithered over to my cousin and slowly leant over him. Albus moaned in pleasure and pulled her down onto him. I looked over at James, but he was looking in disgust at his brother as Albus tried to undo Smith's bikini.

"Albus? What the hell?" Apparently James couldn't keep quiet any longer. Albus's roaming hands dropped from Smith's body and glanced up at James. A lightening flash of recognition soared across his face and he sat up, sending Smith toppling over. She managed to make it look as though she had done it purposely and ended up in a very suggestive pose.

"James? What are you doing here?" I peered around the side of the tree again. "Rose? Why the hell are you two here?"

Parkinson and Chang were no longer glued together, but instead watching James. Chang looking like he might punch James, Parkinson looking like she wished she could get in his pants. Zabini looked up over Malfoy's head and grinned gloatingly at me. She knew I'd had a crush on Malfoy for a long time, like since third year. I didn't look at her. Malfoy finally pushed Zabini off of him and turned to face James.

"Potter." He nodded, a slight smirk on his face. I noticed James' fists tighten. Then Malfoy turned to me. "Weasley, didn't you know it's rude to spy on people? Haven't you got a book to read or something like that?"

"Don't you dare talk to her like that!" James growled as I blushed like mad. I might have a crush on him, but it didn't stop Malfoy from being a bit of a dick sometimes.

"What do you care James? She's just your cous-" Albus began.

"Just my cousin. Yeah, I know that. But apparently you forgot that she is your cousin too. Can you imagine what mum and dad would say if I told them how you had been treating Rose?"

"It's just a bit of fun, Potter." Parkinson said, fluttering her false eyelashes.

"Shut up, Parkinson." James shot at her without actually looking at her. "Albus, just because you're a Slytherin doesn't mean you are allowed to treat anyone like that, especially family! And since when did you decide it was right to take advantage of girls?" Now that I looked closely at the three girls, it was quite obvious they were drunk. Actually drunk might not be a very good description. Pissed would be a better one. And the three guys looked perfectly sober. What the hell had been going on here?

"I didn't take advantage of them!" Albus yelled.

"Oh yeah, I can see that. Since when was it your thing to get girls drunk and nearly have sex with them?"

"Maybe I was just following the example of my brother!" Albus yelled. James was lost for words. It was true, James had probably slept with half the girls in my year, but they were all willing. James wouldn't ever force a girl to sleep with him. He was better than that. Albus continued yelling. "Don't pretend you're all innocent! And stop acting a hero for Rose! Just because she is too weak to stand up for herself doesn't mean you have to do it for her!" Ouch, that really hurt. Albus and I had used to be close. Like, best friends. What had happened? What had changed? I watched as Albus stormed off towards the castle. Scorpius laughed and followed, calling for my cousin to wait for him. Chang walked after them leaving the three girls behind with me and James.

"Bitch!" Zabini spat at me before running off after her boyfriend. Smith followed and with a quick wink at James, Parkinson joined them.

What the hell had I just witnessed?

**First Chapter complete! Wooo! Hoped you liked it. Please review! It would mean a lot!**


	2. Decisions and Regrets

**Author's Note:**

**This one gets a little serious, but I hope you enjoy it! Originally, Rose had a normal mobile phone, but my friend pointed out that it wouldn't work inside Hogwarts so i had to change it. Hope it's not too unbelievable! Also, with this story, the point of view will change a lot. Probably almost every chapter.**

_James's Pov:_

I watched them running up to the castle in silence. As Jade opened the door into the school, she turned back and blew a kiss at me. Urgh. She seriously needs to get her head around the fact that I would rather die than date her! Even the thought of us as a couple made me want to be sick. I turned back to Rose, but she was gone.

"Rose?" I called quietly. There was no reply. I looked up the path back to the castle, but she wasn't there. "Rose?" My voice sounded more urgent now. I stopped for a moment and thought. Just about Rose. Where would she be?

The answer came to me in an instant.

_The Lake._

"ROSE!" I yelled and sprinted towards the lake. It was further away than it had looked back at the tree and by the time I got the edge I was out of breath. But I couldn't stop because I could see her standing alone on rock high above the water's surface

"Rose?" I said softly. I was metres away from her now, and I stopped moving towards her. She didn't even turn to look at me as she removed her shoes. I could hear her sobbing quietly and sniffing. "Rose. Come on, Rose. Ignore Albus, he's probably just high or drunk or some crap like that. I'd go and beat the shit out of him right now if I wasn't so worried about you." She was still watching the water, but she replied.

"Why, James? Why do you care? Nobody else does! I'm just you're cousin." She said fiercely.

"Rose, you're more than that. You're... Well I don't know... But you're something to me. Something more." I didn't know why I was saying this. I had never felt anything romantic towards Rose. She was great, yes, but she was my cousin.

"I can't take it anymore James. I won't take it anymore! Not their laughs! Not their sneers! Especially not their whispers! I won't!" She yelled, and I felt as though she wasn't talking to me, but yelling at the world. Letting them know that she would no longer take any crap. "I'm done living in my parent's shadow. My mum, who beat every academic record in the history of Hogwarts. Dad, who helped bring down The Dark Lord. I'm not their child! I'm me! Rose Weasley! Aren't you tired of it James? People making assumptions? Judging you? I know I am." I'll always remember the last thing she said before she jumped.

She launched herself into the deep water known for its cruel currents. I watched as she plunged into the freezing dark lake. I was so stunned that I think my mind shut down for a couple of seconds. I simply stood there, waiting for her to resurface. Then a thought crept into my head- what if she wasn't planning on coming back up.

I didn't think, I just yanked my shirt off and jumped. As my body went crashing into the water, I was aware of my skin going numb and senseless with the cold. I opened my eyes enough to see Rose's red hair shimmering beneath me. I swam up to the surface and took a huge breath before going back under.

My arms made quick panicked strokes as I went further and further down, my hands grabbing blindly at the water, hoping to find Rose. Just when I knew I was running out of air, my hand got caught in a tangled mess that could only be Rose's hair. I then found her waist and hauled her to the surface. Just before we got back up, I felt something wrap around my leg. I looked down and saw a Grindylow wrapped around it, refusing to let me go. For a second I paused, but then the image of Hugo appeared in front of me. I looked up at Rose, who meant so much not only to me, but my entire family. With the last bit of my strength, I pushed her to the surface and kicked at the Grindylow. It scratched at my ankles and cut deep into my skin, but I gritted my teeth and carried on fighting. Finally, after what seemed like hours it gave up and let go. I made my way to the surface and found Rose floating in the water. It must have only been minutes since she had jumped. I put one arm around her waist and heaved her unconscious body back to the rocks.

"Come one Rose! Breath, god dammit!" I muttered as I lay her down on the rocks. I checked her pulse, but it was non-existent. I groaned, frustrated, and tried to think of what to do next. CPR seemed to be the only logical thing that could save her. It was a good ten minute walk to the Hospital Wing and carrying Rose would only make it longer. I tried giving her CPR, but it didn't work. She was dying in front of me and I couldn't do anything! "Please Rose, you can do this! I know you can! Just hold on, I'm going to save you." I promised her even though I knew she couldn't hear me. I found her bag and rummaged through it. At the bottom I found her phone. My Granddad had invented a load that would work inside Hogwarts so we could always be contacted. I grabbed it and scrolled through her contacts. Finally I found someone I knew I could talk to. I dialled the number.

"Hello?" A disgruntled voice greeted me from the other end.

"Freddie? Is that you?" I hurriedly asked, looking at Rose's face as it turned from a pale white to a fading blue.

"James? Yeah, it's me. Why the hell are you ringing me?"

"No time to explain. You need to get McGonagall now! I'm serious! Ask Dominique to wake Madam Pomfrey. I think we're going to need her."

"James, what's going on?" Freddie sounded worried, and as much as I wanted to tell him, Rose's life was slipping away with every second and there was no time.

"Just meet me by the Lake with McGonagall. By the rocks." I hung up and hoped helplessly that Freddie would do what I told him. I grabbed hold of Rose's hand and squeezed it.

"I'm still here Rose." I whispered to her and waited.

**So what did you think? I know it was kind of fast for a second chapter to have a suicide in it, but the point is that Rose has dealt with it for a long time.**

**Please review! It means my next chapters can be even better!**


	3. What to Say?

**Author's Note:**

**This one follows on from the phone call in the last chapter. Becky is a Gryffindor in Rose's year. I have some idea of where it's going, but not sure who's point of viwe the next chapter will be from.**

_Freddie's Pov:_

Was I annoyed that James had randomly called me while I was trying to get back into Becky's good books? Just a little! But he sounded seriously worried, so I thought I had better do what he said.

"Look, Becks, I have to do something." I tried to explain to my girlfriend.

"What? Freddie, you always have to do _something!_ Why can't you spend one night with me? Am I that annoying?" She whined.

"What? No, Becks. You're as gorgeous as ever. But something has happened. James just rang. I need to help him out." Becky looked at me for a second and sighed.

"Ok, fine. Can I help?"

"Could you get Dominique and tell her to go and wake Madam Pomfrey please? Tell her its an emergency." I quickly kissed her and then left the Common Room. I ran to McGonagall's office and knocked loudly on the door.

"Professor? Professor, please open the door!" I practically yelled. I heard footstep on the other side and hastily stopped shouting.

"Mr Weasley, what in the name of God gave you the reason to make such a horrendous noise this late at night?" McGonagall's thick Scottish accent made me smile slightly, but then I remembered why I was here.

"Professor, I just got a call from James. He sounded really scared. He told me to get you and come down to the Lake." I explained, well aware that I was wasting time.

"James? James Potter?"

"Ys, Professor! Please, we need to be quick. I think something is wrong. James told to me to wake Madam Pomfrey but I asked Dominique to do it so I could get you."

"Madam Pomfrey? Then someone must be injured!" I hadn't thought of that, but now she said that, I realised how right she was. "Mr Weasley, do you know exactly where Mr Potter is?"

"Yes, by the rocks that overlooks the Lake."

"Then we must hurry." She said and was off. For someone so old, she was incredibly fast. She started off speed-walking, but soon that wasn't good enough for her and she was running. It was hard to keep up with her, which is saying something seeing as I'm Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.

We were there in no time, and I saw James crouched over something. He looked like he was crying, which is something I'd never seen him do. I sped up and raced to his side.

"James, what's-" Then I saw what- or rather who- was underneath James.

Rose.

Her face was blue and she was soaked. I stopped and simply stared at my cousin. I couldn't bring myself to move. Distantly, I could hear McGonagall asking James to move away from her. I got myself together, and without looking at Rose, helped James get to his feet. McGonagall was already casting spells on Rose, so I just supported James and watched as a stretcher appeared out of thin air and Rose was levitated onto it. Then she was gone.

"Mr Weasley, would you bring Mr Potter to the Hospital Wing. I will be there in a few minutes, but first I think I had better contact Miss Weasley's parents." I nodded at McGonagall and helped James move. He seemed to be in shock. McGonagall walked ahead of us and as soon as I knew she was out of earshot, I turned to James.

"What happened? Tell me everything now!"

"She- She jumped." Was all James said.

"What do you mean? Were you having a laugh? Did she get caught in a current?"

"No, she jumped. I think she was trying to kill herself." Then he shrugged off the hand I had put on his shoulder and walked away.

"James! Hey, wait up! I'm supposed to take you to the Hospital Wing." He didn't wait, but I ran after him and caught him up. "You went in after her, didn't you?"

"I couldn't just stand there and watch her drown." James said. And then he broke down. Completely. I'd never seen him like this before and it worried me. He fell to the ground and started sobbing hysterically. I crouched down next to him and waited. When he finally stopped crying, I gave him a kind of awkward pat on the back. "You ready to go?" He nodded and got up.

"She's going to be alright, isn't she?" He asked.

"You know Madam Pomfrey. She'll save Rose. I'm sure of it."

"You weren't there, Freddie. You didn't see it. She was under for a minute. I tried CPR but it didn't work..." He cut off, as though lost in his thoughts.

"Hey, James, it wasn't your fault. You know that right?"

"Yeah, I guess." He sighed.

"Did she tell you why? Why she did it?" I asked tentatively, aware that at any moment James could break down into tears again.

"She said she was fed up. That she wasn't going to take any shit anymore. She said she was tired of the whispers and the teasing. That she didn't want to live in her parent's shadow." James said. Then his face went cold. "It was Albus."

"What?"

"Albus and his friends. They hurt her, Freddie."

"What do you mean? Albus would never hurt a girl." And I knew I was right. Albus had always been a sweet, kind kid. Although even I had to admit he had changed since he was sorted into Slytherin.

"Not physically. But emotionally, he was really nasty to her. The last thing he said to her was that she was weak. You know Rose always takes these things personally. I think that she decided if her cousin thought that about her, the world's opinion wasn't even worth knowing. That's why she decided to kill herself."

"Albus said that?" I asked quietly. I couldn't imagine it coming out of his mouth. He'd always been so thoughtful.

"Yes, and I'm sure it's not the worst he's said to her."

"I guess you can't expect much more from someone who is friends with Malfoy."

"And that damned girlfriend of his! What's her name?"

"Alexandra Smith? I didn't know they were still dating." They'd broken up after Albus had found Smith making out with another Slytherin.

"Neither did I." We walked in silence for a little while.

"So, what are you going to do?" I asked, as we entered the Castle.

"About what?"

"Albus, obviously. Are you going to tell your parents?"

"I guess I'm going to happen. I was going to just punch him and have done with it, but that was before-" He looked off into space.

"Yeah, maybe it's for the best. Although I don't want to be there when you tell your mum." James almost smiled. Mrs Potter had a fiery temper and she defiantly wouldn't be pleased to hear what Albus had been doing lately. We arrived at the Hospital Wing and went straight to Rose. She was still unconscious but looked much better. There was colour in her cheeks and she was breathing heavily. Dominique was sitting next to her, holding her hand. She looked up at us as we entered.

"What the hell Freddie? You get your girlfriend to tell me to come to the Hospital Wing and then Rose appears and she's almost dead! Anyone want to explain all this to me?"

"Dom, quieten down! We're not the only ones here you know!" I looked over at the different beds in the Hospital Wing. It wasn't as busy as it usually was because Quidditch hadn't started. But it wasn't empty.

"Sorry, Freddie. I'm just a little confused. What happened? James? You look weird." Now that we weren't outside in the dark, I noticed that James was turning blue as well.

"Oh, shit James! You're turning blue! Dom, go and get him a blanket or something. He's been in the Lake." Dominique looked questioningly at me but got the blanket anyway. We sat James down on the bed next to Rose and made an excuse to go outside. As we were leaving, we passed McGonagall rushing in with the other Heads of Houses.

"Ah, Mr Weasley. Is Mr Potter alright?" She asked us, gasping for breath. It looked like she had run around the whole school.

"Yeah, but he was shivering like mad. We gave him a blanket. I was just taking Dominique outside to explain what was going on. James is a little sensitive at the moment."

"And what is going on exactly, Mr Weasley?" So she didn't know. What could I tell her? Everything, I guess.

"Rose tried to kill herself." Flitwick gave an over the top gasp. I almost rolled my eyes. Dominique's mouth was open in horror. McGonagall told us to go straight back to our dorms. I looked back at James, who was just staring at Rose. It had really affected him. I know it was shallow of me, but the first thought that came into my head was "I hope this won't affect how he plays in our match against Slytherin."

**So what do you think? Please review!**


	4. Weak

**Author's Note:**

**This one is a dream. I'll let you decide when she is having it, whether it's in the Lake or the Hospital Wing. It's also really short, but really important to the plot!**

_Rose's Pov:_

I was running. Running for my life. I didn't dare look behind me because I knew I would never be able to look away. I could hear the heavy footsteps chasing me and the gasp for air as they continued to run. Why were they chasing me? Hell, even I didn't know!

I tripped and fell, a branch snapping from beneath my weight. I couldn't help myself. I turned my head and gasped.

It was as though he was a gorgeous angel, sent to save me from whatever evil awaited me. Then I realised, he was the evil. So he was saving me from himself? That didn't make sense, and it sure as hell didn't make him any less hot. His grey eyes and messy blonde hair were even more amazing then I remembered.

"Rose..." He whispered. One word. My name.

"Scorpius." I replied, aware that he was getting closer with every breath he took. He was looking down on me now, leaning over my body. My heart raced as his body bent so that his face was centimetres from mine. I leant forwards to kiss him, but at the last second he moved backwards.

"Albus was right. You can't stand up for yourself. You're a sad excuse for a witch. All you ever do is read. You're not even hot." He spat the last sentence and it stung. Then suddenly, the angel flickered. Suddenly it wasn't Scorpius Malfoy standing above me, but my cousin.

"Why do you always get in the way of everything? You're a waste of space! My brother stands up for you. You think it's because he likes you? Ha! It's because he feels sorry for you! Like every member of our family does. You're not a true Weasley. You'll never live up to your parents, so why even bother trying?"

"Leave me alone!" I screamed at him and scrambled to my feet. I turned to run, but then they spoke. I say they, because when I turned back round, my entire family was staring back at me. Scorpius Malfoy, the gorgeous angel who hated me, stood at the front, his eyes filled with rage.

"You always run! Why don't you stay and fight for once instead of running all the time? You're weak!" They yelled at me in unison. I looked at my parents, who were seething in anger. At my countless aunts and uncles who looked like they wanted nothing to do with me. My grandparents, who usually filled a room with warmth and happiness, wore faces of disgust. I stood my ground and looked directly at Scorpius.

"I am NOT weak!" I screamed at them. Then everything went black. The last thing I heard was "I'm still here Rose."

**I told you it was short. Not sure what I think of this one. In case you were wondering, it was James who said "I'm still here Rose." It's the last thing he says in the second chapter. Please review!**


	5. Blocking a Memory

**Author's Note: Thank you so much for the views and reviews! It means so much to me!**

**This chapter actually took the most time so far to write because it had to be heavily edited... But it was worth it!**

_James's Pov:_

I didn't get any sleep. I couldn't close my eyes. The image of Rose, lying unconscious, was enough to make me sick to my core. I lay in the bed next to her, looking up at the ceiling, trying to forget about everything. Why had I agreed to go with her? I could have made up an excuse! She'd understand. If I had just gone to meet Lorna like I was meant to, I wouldn't be stuck in the middle of this!

But Rose would be dead, floating at the bottom of the Lake. I screwed my eyes closed, trying to rid myself of the horrid vision, but even then she was there. Her bright blue eyes refusing to blink, the famous Weasley red hair swirling with the underwater currents...

I sat up in bed. I couldn't sleep so what was the point in trying? I might as well do something useful. Just as I was getting out of bed to go to the kitchens (food is always the answer when things like this happen), I heard footsteps approaching the Hospital Wing. Someone was sobbing, their cries were echoing through the corridors. The door opened and my Aunt and Uncle came in, closely followed by Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall.

"Potter, why are you still awake? Sleep would be good for you." McGonagall's tone was sharp, but there was sympathy in her eyes.

"I couldn't sleep. It seemed sort of pointless just lying here. I'm alright now, I feel much better."

"Why is James here? Has he been hurt as well?" Rose's mum looked confused. I could tell it was her who had been crying because there were red rings under her eyes.

"Mr Potter here went in after Rose. He nearly drowned himself."

"Oh my goodness!" Mrs Weasley looked at me. "I can't express how grateful I am, James. What you did was heroic."

"Thanks James. Your Father would be proud." Mr Weasley didn't show any emotion, but in a way that made him seem even more emotional that his wife. He turned to McGonagall. "Why was Rose in the Lake in the first place?"

"I think Mr Potter is the only one who can answer that." All eyes turned to me. That wasn't fair! McGonagall knew just as well as I did what had happened. I couldn't just tell my Aunt and Uncle that their daughter had decided she was going to drown herself.

"She-she-" I couldn't do it. It would destroy them to know Rose had chosen to do that. I looked McGonagall in the eye. "Tell them yourself. You're Rose's Head of House, so it's your responsibility, not mine!" I was angry. Not my normal angry. Normally, I just got angry at life and found someone to blame. Now I was angry at McGonagall for trying to get out of telling Mr and Mrs Weasley. I was angry at Mr and Mrs Weasley for not working out what had happened. I was angry at Albus for the cruel things he had said. But most of all, I was angry at myself because I knew I had no right being angry at anyone. Rose's mother looked shocked but McGonagall just nodded calmly.

"Very well Mr Potter. I believe you can leave now, you seem well enough." She looked at Madam Pomfrey who nodded. "Then you are dismissed." I didn't wait for Rose's parents to argue about how I should stay. I got up and stormed out of the room. As I was leaving, I heard the agonized cries of Mrs Weasley. McGonagall had told them.

Suddenly food didn't seem to appeal to me.

Instead I went to the Ravenclaw Common Room. I knew where it was, I'd been there enough times with Lorna. Instead of a password, there was a puzzle. To get in, you needed to solve it. It seemed pointless to me and tonight of all nights, I really wasn't in the mood. Luckily, a third year Ravenclaw was outside.

"Excuse me, can you let me in?" I asked. He looked at me for a minute as if I was mentally ill, and then grinned.

"All you have to do is answer the question."

"Look, I just want to talk to Lorna Creevey. I'm really not in the mood for any crap you nerds want to give me. I just want to talk to her. Just go in and ask her to come out." I narrowed my eyes and all of a sudden he didn't seem quite so confident. I loved having that effect on people.

"Fine, but if she doesn't want to see you, it isn't my problem." I nodded and waited as he answered some shit about sheep and dragons. He appeared a minute or so later with a very tired looking Lorna. She smiled at me which was a relief. I honestly wasn't sure if she would forgive me for ditching her.

"Right, I've done my bit. But I'm waiting for a friend and don't really want to watch some sick make out session, so I would appreciate it if you didn't stick around." He said. Damn, that boy had a nerve. I was a huge 7th year Gryffindor. I could beat the crap out of him! I didn't, but mainly because Lorna was there and as it turned out, I think she had a soft spot for the kid.

"Sure, Trevor. Thanks for getting me." Then she took my hand and lead me towards the seventh floor. "Funny." She said. "There are no teachers around. We could go anywhere we want! How about we go for a swim in the Lake?"

"No." I said hastily. She looked at me confused. "Sorry, it's just that I've had enough of that Lake for a lifetime."

"What do you mean? Were you down at the Lake this evening? Is that why you didn't turn up? James! It was our 6 month anniversary! How could you? I thought maybe you had detention or something."

"Rose almost died."

"What?" Lorna wasn't really paying attention; she was too busying pitying herself.

"Rose jumped in the Lake. She nearly drowned." We were at the seventh floor now. She was taking me to the Room of Requirement; somewhere I had shown her a couple of months back.

"Why were you with your cousin alone by the lake?" She asked suspiciously.

"She was upset." I said simply. "Lorna, please leave it. I really just want to forget about it."

"Fine. Let's make up for it now." She opened the door to the Room of Requirement and pulled me inside. It was dark. Not completely pitch black, but only a couple of candles were lit. I could just see a giant double bed. Lorna jumped on it and beckoned me closer. I did and before I knew it, I was kissing her more roughly than I ever had before. Maybe it was the urgent need to rid my memory of Rose and what had happened. Maybe it had absolutely nothing to do with that. All I knew was that what had happened today would haunt for the rest of my life.

**I decided to leave what happens between Lorna and James now up to the Reader's imagination. I'm not sure that I myself know how far they went...**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If so, maybe a review? And if you didnt like it, review anyway!**


	6. Admitting the Truth

**Author's Note:**

**I really enjoyed doing this chapter. I know it's short, but I promise the next one will be longer! This is the first chapter where we really see Albus's point of view. Hope you enjoy! This chapter was inspired by You Me At Six, as is most of the story. Without their music to listen to I probably wouldn't have done half the chapters I have. Hope you enjoy!**

**This chapter is parallel to the last chapter.**

_Albus's Pov:_

I probably shouldn't have said it. But I did, and I couldn't change the past, right? James had been deciding whether to punch me or not, I could tell. But it's true. She's a bit of a wimp. The Rose I used to know was adventurous and feisty. Now she couldn't even stand up for herself against a couple of Slytherin's. Scorpius had once said that she wasn't trying to stand up to us. She was trying to stand up to herself. I think I get what he means.

Scorpius talks about Rose quite a bit. It's kind of weird actually. I mean she's just a Gryffindor who can't put down a book. He's the most popular Slytherin and has girls (actually a couple of guys too) practically worshipping him. I assumed it was because his girlfriend, Chelsea, was kind of obsessed with making Rose's life a living hell. I had tried to stop them, but it hadn't really worked. In fact, it had led to Alex breaking up with me. She was the best thing that ever happened to me at Hogwarts, and I wasn't going to give her up, not even for my cousin. This had been the year before, just after we had finished our OWLs. I'd gone up in front of Scorpius, Alex, Chelsea, Jade and Liam and told them what a bitch Rose was. It had hurt me to do it, but what Rose didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Except now she did know... God, I'd messed up so bad!

I could hear Liam snoring and mumbling in his sleep. He'd always been an irritatingly loud snorer. Scorpius was in bed, reading. He didn't seem to have noticed Liam. I gritted my teeth and tried to sleep whilst ignoring Liam. It didn't work. I grabbed the pillow from the bottom of my bed and hauled it at Liam's face. He woke up instantly.

"What did you do that for, Al?" he moaned.

"You were being too loud! Let me get to sleep first, then you can carry on your snoring Olympics!" I was irritable and Liam noticed.

"What's ruffled your feathers?"

"I don't have feathers!" I snapped back. Couldn't he see I wanted some sleep?

"I think Albus is feeling guilty about what he said to his delightful cousin this evening." Scorpius said. Trust him to know exactly what was bothering me. He understood me in a way that no one has ever before.

"I just think I should have been nicer to her. What I said was hurtful." Liam laughed.

"What's gotten into you, Al? You're a Slytherin! Besides, it's not like it's going to kill her to tell the truth. Right?"

"I guess." But I didn't really agree with Liam. Over the last six months, my friends had been nasty and horrible to Rose. How much of that could she take before she snapped?

"Look, mate. Just forget about her. I know you guys were really good friends once, but she's a Gryffindor. And you're a Slytherin! You can't be friends; it goes against everything Slytherin's stand for! You'd be a traitor. You've got great friends in Slytherin, why do you need her? She's just your cousin. You can still be besties in the holidays, so what's the problem?" Scorpius asked.

"No, you guys are wrong. I shouldn't have said that to Rose. She's my cousin, and I treated her like an enemy. She's family and I was horrible to her. Tomorrow, I'm going to apologise." And they couldn't change my mind. They tried. Said it would be bad for my image. But was image more important than family? It had been, for me. And it still was for them. But now, I think I was beginning to realise that I had been wrong and James had been right. That was hard to admit, but it was true.

**I said it was short. Hope you liked Albus's Point of View. Please review! It means a lot!**


	7. Waking Up

**Author's Note:**

**I know I said this one would be long. Well, it would have been but I decided to split it into two chapters because it changes point of view. So yes, this is another really short chapter. In fact, it's a poor excuse for a chapter. It's more a filler. But the next one will hopefully be longer!**

**Did I mention that writing this is only possible because I listen to You Me At Six on repeat? I love those guys!**

**Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**By the way, I own nothing in these stories except for the characters which I made up. Don't sue me because if you did, I'd find myself on the streets with no money. I really don't want that to happen!**

**J.K Rowling is the real mastermind behind all of these Harry Potter Fan fictions...**

_Rose's Pov:_

I opened my eyes for the first time since I'd jumped. _I'd jumped. _It was all coming back to me now. The water, swallowing me whole. Freezing my insides and pouring into my lungs. I shuddered. What had I been thinking? Oh, that's right. I'd been thinking about how fed up I was of everything! Had that changed since my visit to the bottom of the Lake? No. I was still tired of living like this. Would I do it again? Probably.

How had I survived? I hadn't resisted the currents, so why wasn't I dead?

James Potter.

Damn it! Why had he decided to save me?! Couldn't he let me make my own decision? I couldn't stay mad at him though. He had put his life at risk for me. And even the thought of my parents and Hugo at my funeral was enough to make me sick. Maybe I should have thought it out...

Speaking of which, where were my parents? I remember seeing my mum's face once, as I drifted in and out of consciousness, but I didn't know how long ago that had been. It could have been, days or weeks for all I knew. I slowly raised my head from the pillow that now had the shape of my skull moulded into it.

A scream that could only belong to my mother rang through my ears. So they were here. I looked around, but nothing would focus. All I could see was some bushy brown hair.

"Mum?" I asked.

"Rose! Oh thank god! I was so worried about you!" My eyes were beginning to focus now and I could see tears in her dark brown eyes.

"Mum? Where's dad?"

"He's just outside, honey. With your Uncle. You really scared us there." She looked at me as if she expected me to apologise. But I wasn't going to apologise for hating life. I wasn't going to say "sorry" for wanting to end my pain and misery. Just then, dad walked in followed by Uncle Harry.

"Dad!" I smiled and he almost ran to me. He gave me a huge suffocating hug.

"Rose, I'm so glad you're ok." Uncle Harry said. I smiled at him.

"Will I be able to leave soon?" I asked.

"Not yet, honey. You were very ill. You were in a coma for a little while." My mum explained.

"What day is it?"

"Sunday."

"So I've only been here for a day?" It felt longer than that. Maybe it was that dream- I shuddered at the thought of it.

Just then James came in. Followed by Albus and Scorpius.

I screamed.

**I did say it ****was short but the next one will lead on ****from it**** (when I finally get round to writing it...) Please review, it makes writing much easier when you have somebody else's input! **


	8. Struggling for Words

**Author's Note:**

**Finally a slightly longer chapter! I really loved writing this one. I'm not sure if my decisions on where this story is going were good or bad, so please tell me what you think. Should James tell someone about why Rose jumped? Or should he just keep quiet and deal with Albus himself? Enjoy!**

_James's Pov:_

Thinking back, maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to bring Albus to visit Rose. Ok, it was a really bad idea. I knew that. I just didn't realise how badly Rose would take it. All we did was walk in (Malfoy, Albus and me) and she started screaming and crying. It was almost comical, how over the top she acted. Although, this was Rose. I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Albus certainly was though. I hadn't told him what had happened. He knew he had hurt her, but he didn't know he was the reason for her suicide attempt. He had told me earlier that he wished he hadn't said that to Rose and that he was going to put it right. I don't know what he was expecting- surely not to just walk in here and apologise and expect Rose to forgive him. Even he isn't that stupid... is he? Maybe i overestimated his understanding of others feelings. I mean, Albus is my brother, and the brother I know- wait, I mean the brother I knew- would never have hurt anyone like he hurt Rose. But he had. So maybe I didn't know my brother.

"Get them out!" She yelled. That surprised me. Wanting Albus out? Sure, I get that. Malfoy, yeah, he's a bit of a dick. But me? What had I done?

I stood there, my mouth opened in the shape of an O like an idiot. Rose's parents seemed as surprised as me. They looked from us to Rose, then to each other. It was dad who finally decided that the only way to stop Rose's hysterics would be to get us out of the room. He tugged on my shoulder and I finally tore my eyes from Rose. Her screaming and agonised cries scared me.

Once we were outside, Albus and Malfoy looked at each other with mixed expressions of shock and guilt. Good. They should feel bad about what they put Rose through. No, they should feel more than bad.

"Well, it looks like Rose has finally lost her marbles..." Malfoy muttered. I launched myself at him and landed my fist right in the centre of his nose. I heard a satisfactory crunch and I tackled him to the ground, pelting him with punches in his stomach. How fucking dare him!

He'd hit a nerve with his comment. After all, it was partly his fault that Rose was like this. Malfoy was swearing his head off, but he was nothing against me and my muscles. I mean, he was fit enough. But he hadn't been Beater of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team for six years. Hitting Bludgers around all the time had a brilliant effect on my arms.

My dad eventually drags me off Malfoy's now bruising body. He keeps his hand firmly on my shoulder in case I try to attack anyone else.

"What the fuck Potter?!" Malfoy yelled at me.

"Don't you dare speak about Rose like that! Not after what you did to her!"

"I haven't ever laid a finger on your cousin! What's wrong with you?"

"James, why are you having a go at Scorpius? He has nothing to do with Rose! They've never had a proper conversation!" I looked at my brother. Then I remember he didn't know what had happened.

"Do you know why Rose is in there, Al?" He shook his head. "She tried to kill herself. Yes, that's right, Albus. So now maybe you know why I just tried to kill your best friend." Albus stood there shocked. Then he turned and ran. Probably to his dorm. I couldn't care less where he was going.

"Is-is that true, Mr Potter?" Malfoy addressed my dad for the first time. He nodded. "Then I'm sorry for what I said." He looked at me and ran off, probably after Albus.

"James, what's going on?"

"I- I- " I struggled for words. "I don't know. I- Can I see Rose please?" By the look on my dad's face , he didn't believe me. He knew something was up, but he didn't push the subject.

"I don't know if that's a good idea, James. She was pretty upset when you walked in before."

"That was because Al and Malfoy were there." I quickly realised my mistake as my dad raised his eyebrows. "I mean, she really doesn't like Malfoy and I think she would be embarrassed about them both seeing her like that-" I knew it was a poor excuse. Being embarrassed didn't make you scream and cry. "Dad, I just want to see her. Make sure she's ok. Please?"

"Alright then. But if she doesn't want to see you, you'll have to leave."

"Fine." We both went back into the Hospital Wing. I hid behind Dad until I was near Rose's bed. Her parents seemed to have calmed her down enough. She was just breathing very hard and very fast now.

"Rose?" I spoke quietly and tentatively, just in case she went crazy again.

"Go away." She muttered and faced the other direction. What had I done?!

"I think I'll stay here for a little bit, if that's ok?" I sat down on the side of her bed. Her parents and dad had backed away slowly and left the room. I was glad. Now I could talk to her without fearing being over heard.

"No. I don't want to talk to you! Just leave me alone! I hate you!" Wait, what? She hated me? Why?

"Rose, why do you hate me?"

"I don't want to talk to you! Leave me alone!"

"Don't be stupid, Rose! Answer my question! Why do yuo hate me? What did I do wrong?"

"You saved me."

I saved her? Well, I'm sorry! Next time her life was endanger, what did she expect me to do? Leave her to die?

"Aren't you supposed to say thanks? I mean, I almost died myself trying to save you. And that water was pretty damn cold." I was hoping to make her smile or laugh. My expectations were way too high. But she did turn to face me. Her eyes were blotchy and red, just as they had been at dinner the previous evening.

"You saved me, James. I didn't want to be saved. I wanted to die."

"I don't believe you, Rose. You were upset, but suicidal? I don't think you were thinking straight."

"You don't know what it's like. Well, heres a taster of my life. Everyone hates you, except your family. And really they have to like you. You cant possibly date anyone because no is interested and no one ever will be. You're constantly picked on for being clever and alone. The only happiness you can have is in books, which just makes others hate you more. Everyone you meet expects you to be like your mother and father, and when you don't achieve what they did, nobody wants to know you. Whilst everyone else dreams of becoming famous and rich, all you can wish for is a friend or someone who loves you. So many people take everything for granted, and I don't get any of it. Can you imagine what the must feel like? Every second of your life?"

And I couldn't. Not really. Because I was popular. Only a couple of jealous Slytherin's really _hate _me. My family likes me of course. But I'm everyone's favourite cousin along with Freddie. I dated so many girls I've lost count. Not once have I been bullied in my entire life. I like to read and I'm clever too, but girls just seem to find it even more attractive. I do know how it feels to have expectations thrown upon you because of your parents, but I have gotten better grades than my parents and I've made such an impression, people call my mum and dad the 'parents of James Sirius Potter' instead of referring to me as their son. I dream like everyone else, and I know I will make those dreams a reality. All Rose dreams of is what the rest of us have.

"No, I cant imagine that Rose."

"Why didn't you just let me drown like I wanted?"

"You know what, at one point I was going to. I was stuck underwater. One of us was going to drown. At first I was going to save myself. But then, I thought of Hugo, and I knew I would never be able to face him again if I survived and you didn't." She was shocked, speechless. Then she outstretched her arms and pulled me into her chest. She hugged me and cried at the same time. I let her cry everything out. Explain everything to me. I just listened.

"When you came in with Albus and Malfoy I knew I wouldn't be able to cope. I just- I- Did you tell him?"

"Tell him what?"

"What happened."

"I told him what you tried to do. I let him work out the rest for himself."

"That was harsh, James." I looked down at her.

"Harsh? He deserved a thousand times worse. And I'm going to make sure he hates himself for the rest of his life."

"Do you hate him?" Did i? He was my brother, so I had to love him. But hadn't I been disgusted when he had said all those things to Rose?

"He's my brother, but I hate him."

"You shouldn't."

"Why not?"

"He's your brother. If you don't help him, he might never become the good person he used to be. He needs you."

"Not as much as you do. Do you hate him then?"

"Yes. I don't think I'll ever be able to love Albus again. He was my cousin, adn he hurt me. Now he's just someone I thought I knew." There were tears in her eyes. I think she was realising what she was saying. "I hate them! All of them!" She screamed.

"I know, Rose. And don't forgive him. Be strong and remember the pain he made you feel. Because without that, I'm not sure he'll regret treating you that way."

Then my dad walked in.

"Son, Rose needs to rest. McGonagall wants to see you too."I sighed and reached out for Rose's hand. I gave it a reassuring squeeze and left. Just as I was opening the door, she spoke.

"Thanks James."

I smiled and left.

**Thanks for all the reviews! Maybe a couple more for this chapter? Pretty please?**


	9. An Uncomfortable Conversation

**Author's Note: **

**Another one from James's Point of View. This one doesn't really have much to do with the storyline but I enjoyed writing it and it kind of brings us up to what happens next... and I promise you will love it! I have some brilliant ideas! Enjoy!**

_James's Pov:_

McGonagall opened the door before I even reached for the knocker. She was wearing the same green tartan robes she always wore. I wondered if she had a wardrobe full of spares, like that character from some Muggle cartoon The Simpsons mum had shown me once.

"Ah, Mr Potter. I had a feeling you'd visit me."

"But- you asked me to come, Professor." I said, momentarily confused.

"Did I? I think your wrong, Mr. Potter."

"My dad told me to come to talk to you."

"It seems to me as if your dad was not telling you the truth, Mr Potter. Although I am glad you came." What? My dad had been lying? So why had he wanted me to come here? To get me out of the Hospital Wing? No, he'd told me to do that before telling me about McGonagall. So what had he wanted? By the time these thoughts had raced through my brain, I was sitting opposite my Head of House in her office.

"So, Mr Potter. Why exactly did you want to speak with me?"

"I told you, I didn't. I mean, I didn't know I wanted to speak to you. My dad tricked me. I'm not sure what he wanted me to do..."

"I, on the other hand, think his intentions are perfectly clear." I sat there, not sure what to say. "He wanted you to speak the truth."

"The truth? The truth about what?"

"About the incident with Miss Weasley."

"But, you already know what happened. What she tried to do."

"Yes. And what you stopped her doing. But I have been given none of the crucial details needed to make sure this kind of thing never happens again."

"I'm sorry, but what do you want me to say? You know everything I do."

"I think you're lying. Or just not using your brain. Why exactly did Rose decide that the only way forward was to end her life? I think you know."

I did know. I'd witnessed it. Rose had told me herself twice- once before she jumped and then again just now in the Hospital Wing. I could tell McGonagall everything and get Rose the help she needed. So why did I feel like I shouldn't say anything.

"I'm afraid I can't help you, Professor. If you want to know, Rose is the only one who can say." McGonagall looked disappointed, but nodded.

"Very well Mr Potter. You are dismissed." I left the room, closing the door a little too hard behind me. I strode down the corridor at a fast pace, worried that McGonagall would change her mind and force me to reveal what she knew I was hiding. I was so carried away by this thought that I didn't bother looking as I turned the corner and ran straight into Malfoy.

"Sorry, Potter. Didn't see you there." He said, avoiding my eyes.

"Yeah, well, just look where you're going Malfoy." I was about to walk off when he said something else.

"Potter, I need to talk to you."

"About what?" My voice sounded cold, but even I couldn't hide how much I resented the Slytherin. Mostly for corrupting my brother.

"Your cousin."

"Rose?" I was confused. What did he want to talk to me about Rose for? Hadn't ruining her life been enough?

"Yeah. I'm really sorry about what happened. If I'd known- I would never have said any of those things. I'm going to tell the girls to stop. And apologise to her in person. When she's ready to see me. If she's ever ready to see me again. And I wont blame her if she doesn't."

"What the hell's happened to you Malfoy? One moment you're quite happy taking the piss out of her, the next you want to make up?"

"I didn't think it would get this big. I feel terrible."

"Yeah, well, it's a little late for that."

"Look Potter, I know you hate my guts. And I don't blame you. I'm really sorry for what I said about her before..."

"Yeah, well, you were just being a Malfoy." His grey eyes narrowed.

"I'm not like the rest of them."

"Er, yeah, sure. Whatever _Malfoy_." Malfoy turned to leave. "Malfoy, don't tell anyone about what happened to Rose. It wouldn't be fair."

"Sure." He said and walked off. What the hell was going on?

I went back to the Gryffindor Common Room and found Freddie and Dominique.

"How is she?" Dominique asked straight away, her face pale with worry.

"Better. We talked."

"Oh yeah? What did she say?" Freddie asked.

"That she hated me."

"What?!" They both said in unison.

"She hates me for saving her. She really wanted to die."

"She'll learn to forgive you mate." Freddie smiled. "I've decided to have an extra Quidditch Practice this evening. Can you make it?"

"Sure. You wouldn't be able to practice without your _best_ Beater there." Then we all laughed. It was nice. As though the last twenty four hours hadn't happened.

"Well, I've got to go and see Becky now. I'll see you there?" Both Dominique and I assured Freddie we wouldn't miss it and played a game of Wizard Chess. I was terrible and lost, like I always did.

"So, is Lorna alright?" Dominique asked.

"Yeah, she's alright."

"Alright? Is that it?" As always, Dominique knew when something was up.

"Well, I don't know. I just think that maybe we're drifting apart."

"Yeah well I told you she was no good for you." I laughed.

"You sure did. If I recall correctly, you told me if I went out with 'that slut' you'd never talk to me again. And yet here we are."

"Maybe I was slightly over exaggerating..." She winked. "Where were you last night by the way?"

"You know where I was. In the Hospital Wing."

"Whatever!" Dominique scoffed. "Madam Pomfrey told me that you left before twelve. I was still in the Common Room doing a Potions essay and you didn't come back. So where were you?"

"With Lorna." I could feel my face growing red.

"Oh yeah? What were you doing with her?"

"I just took her to the Room of Requirement..."

"Is it that innocent? I think there's more..."

"Well, we may have kissed once or twice.

"Did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Did you do _it_?"

"Wha- oh..." She looked at me, expecting an answer. "Well, we might have-"

"Tell me everything!" This is what Dominique was like. She needed to know all the details of everyone's personal lives. She asked her mum once how old she was when she's first slept with Uncle Bill. I mean, who asks there parents something like that?! Dominique, thats who.

"It wasn't anything special..."

"James! You had sex with your girlfriend and say it wasn't special?! Ok, you two have got to break up. She must have been really bad at it if you didn't enjoy it..." That was harsh, even for Dominique.

"Hey, I never said I didn't enjoy it."

"Did you?" I didn't answer. "I thought not."

"It's just, I feel like I'm only dating her for sex, and I could get that anywhere."

"That's true. I mean, half the girls in this school would jump at the chance to get in bed with you. And the other half are cousins." We both laughed at that, realising just how true it was. "Seriously though, why don't you just talk to her?"

"Lorna? No, Lorna is a very hands on girlfriend. She doesn't do the talking bit."

"No kidding. Did you tell her about Rose."

"Yeah, she got jealous when I told her I'd spent the evening with Rose."

"What did she say after you told her what Rose did?"

"No, that was what she said after I said Rose jumped."

"That bitch!" Dominique muttered.

"nah, she's not that bad."

"But you didn't like having sex with her. If it wasn't special, and sex is all she's good for, why go out with her at all?"

"Sex isn't special anymore, Dom. We both know I lost my virginity to that Ravenclaw when we won the House Cup at the end of fifth year. What was her name?"

"You know, I cant even remember..."

We sat there for a few minutes, thinking over our pasts.

"We'd better get going unless we want our butts kicked by Freddie." Dominique said. I laughed, nodded and together we made our way to the Quidditch Pitch.

**Hope you enjoyed it. It was meant to be a light hearted chapter. Please review, it gives me ideas for what to do next and what to never do aga****in! Thanks!**


	10. Taking Sides

**Author's Note:**

**I know this is another short chapter but I really think this is the best place to end it. From here the plot thickens. Please review, it means a lot to me!**

_Albus's Pov:_

"I should apologise to her."

"I don't think that's a very good idea."

"What? You think I should just leave it? Scorp, she tried to kill herself because of me!" I sank now on the mattress of my bed as the words that had just poured from my mouth sank in. Because of me, she had nearly died.

"Hey, it wasn't just you. I was just as harsh. Do you remember that time when I told her that Professor Flitwick wanted to talk to her about her Charms grade. Then when she came to meet him, Liam, Chelsea and I beat the crap out of her? You had nothing to do with that."

"You did that?" Damn it, wasn't Scorpius supposed to be my friend?

"Yeah. I wish we hadn't, but we did." Too late for that now though.

"Maybe we should all go and apologise."

"Apologise? To who?" Chelsea asked as she came into our Dorm.

"Rose. She-" A quick shake of the head form Scorp told me that telling Chelsea what had happened wouldn't help my cousin.

"What Albus meant was that she didn't deserve any of the crap we gave her."

"What? Weasley is a bitch. She deserved everything she got!"

"Oi, that's my cousin you're talking about!"

"Yeah, I know. And I'm only repeating what you said. If I remember rightly, you didn't stop me cutting off half her hair in the middle of the night last year when Gryffindor beat us at Quidditch. When I came back we all laughed at what an idiot she was!"

Had I done that? Laughed at Rose? I had.

"We should still apologise to her." It was the right thing to do, even if she didn't accept it.

"Oh come on Albus. Picking on your cousin is fun! You want to ruin that? Because if you do, you're out of here!"

"Out of here?"

"Well you can't expect to be allowed to stay with us."

"What? Chelsea, you can't kick him out just because he wants to do the right thing!"

"Not you too! Weasley is a slutty bitch! She deserves nothing less than what we give her!"

"A slutty bitch?! Have you looked in the mirror recently?!" Scorpius yelled. Silence.

"What the fuck, Malfoy?" Scorpius looked Chelsea straight in the eye. "Fine then, be that way. I don't care. We're over Scorpius!" Then she stormed out of the room.

"Why the hell did you say that, Scorp?"

"I... I dunno. It just kind of came out."

"Well, it's true." I hoped this would cheer him up, but it didn't.

"I need some fresh air. Fancy a walk to the lake?"

"Not the Lake, Scorp. Anywhere but the Lake."

"How about Hagrid's?"

"Yeah, ok." We made our way down to Hagrid's under the Invisibility Cloak Scorpius had stolen from Lily's Dorm a week ago. She now thought it was lost.

As we approached Hagrid's Hut, we knew something was wrong. There were no lights on and it was getting dark. No so late that Hagrid would be asleep, but it would be hard to see inside his small Hut without a candle at least.

"Hagrid?" I said as I knocked on the door. No reply. I tried again louder but still no one opened the door.

"Where is he? He's always around at the weekends." Scorp whispered to me.

"I don't know. Do you reckon its locked?" I asked, looking at the door handle.

"Hagrid normally leaves it open. Try it." I do and it swings open. I climb the few steps and walk into the Hut, Scorpius following me.

"Hagrid?" No, he's defiantly not here. Where could he be? We both get out our wands.

"Lumos." We mutter and Hagrid's home is suddenly filled with a silver glow. That's when I yell, because the entire Hut is covered in blood. Human blood.

**So, there you go. I was getting bored of the whole Rose suicidal thing so decided to throw this twist in. Don't worry; Rose will still be in the story. I mean, Scorpius and Rose haven't even got together yet! I can't just take Rose out of a Rose/Scorpius fanfic, can I? Please review!**


	11. Into the Forest

**Author's Note:**

**Sorry this took so long! I've been away visiting various family members and the laptop broke! So, sorry about that. However, there is a new chapter! Yay! In this particular chapter, the mystery about Hagrid's Hut begins to unfold and develop... hope you enjoy! Please review, it means so much!**

_James's Pov:_

I was talking to Rose when Albus and Malfoy ran in, panting for breath.

"James, where's dad?"

"Well it's nice to see you to." I replied and turned my back.

"Seriously, James! It's really important!"

"I don't care! Get out of here before I make you."

"It's Hagrid. He's missing."

That immediately got my attention.

"What?"

"Well, we were going to see him but he wasn't there. And his Hut- it's... it's awful." I stood up and pulled on my hoodie.

"Show me."

"I'm sorry, Potter, but I really think we need someone who knows what they're doing."

"Is that right, Malfoy? Well, our dad isn't here. He's back in London with mum. So it's me or nothing."

"McGonagall must be around." Albus muttered.

"She's at the Ministry. I heard dad say so." Did they want my help or not?

"Fine, Potter. But I'm not saving you if it means I risk losing my life."

"Ah, Malfoy. Even to this day I wonder why you weren't sorted into Gryffindor. I've never met someone so brave."

"James! This is no time for sarcasm!" Al yelled. He was right. I nodded and then turned back to Rose.

"Are you ok? I could get someone?"

"Oh shut up James. Just go and save the world before I decide to curse your brother." I laughed, shook my head in wonder and followed Al and Malfoy out of the castle. When we got to Hagrid's, Al and Malfoy stopped, as though they were unable to move.

"Aren't you coming?"

"No... I can't... Not again. You don't understand James. It was really horrid." I shrugged and went in on my own; making sure that my wand was producing enough light so that I could see clearly. In a way, I wished it hadn't been.

"Holy shit!" Al was right. It was horrible. There was blood everywhere. I coughed at the sickly smell that threatened to suffocate me and ran from the building. "You could have warned me!"

"Sorry, Potter. We were a little preoccupied."

"So, where's Hagrid?"

"We don't know. You don't suppose that the blood belonged to him?" Albus looked scared, a facial expression he had tried to forget about since he was put in Slytherin. I'd tried to remind him that it was Gryffindor that was the brave house.

Wishing he hadn't asked that, I went back to the hut. I had to check. I swiped my finger across the bloodied wall and brought it to my mouth. My tongue flicked across it and instantly a bitter taste soared through my mouth.

"That's defiantly human blood. So we can rule out Hagrid." Al sighed in relief. He was probably the closest to Hagrid out of the Potter's.

"Can you hear footsteps?" Malfoy asked. I cocked my head to one side and sure enough, someone was approaching. Al and Malfoy turned and backed away slowly, towards Hagrid's hut. Cowards.

Well, they were Slytherins.

I raised my wand and stepped forwards.

"Hello?" I squinted, trying to see who had followed us. My wand was ready to attack.

"You weren't thinking of cursing me, were you James?" Rose sounded shocked. I sighed and lowered my wand.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in the Hospital Wing." I tried to keep my tone soft, but even I could hear the irritated edge to my voice.

"I'm fine James. Besides, I've been bored out of my mind. Might as well do something fun."

"Rose, this isn't fun. Someone's been hurt." Albus said, forgetting about everything that had happened. Rose glared icily as him before turning back to me.

"I think you need my help."

"No, Rose. You need to get better."

"I feel fine!"

"I didn't mean physically. I meant mentally. And whatever has happened is certainly not going to improve your mood. That's human blood." I gestured towards the inside of Hagrid's hut. Rose peered inside.

"Ew. That's gross."

"And you still want to come with us Weasley?" Malfoy asked, smirking.

"At least I don't whimper at the sight of a spider, Malfoy." Rose retorted. Malfoy went bright red which made me chuckle.

"Look, Rose. If McGonagall finds out that you've left the Hospital Wing not only will you be in trouble, but I'll get punished for acknowledging that you left when you weren't supposed to."

"Oh, so you'll get one detention! That'll only add on to the thousands of other's you've been given!"

"I think I'd be lucky to get just a detention. McGonagall could ban me from the Quidditch Team or even expel me! I can't risk that. Just go back to the Hospital Wing before someone notices you're missing." Rose frowned at me.

"James Sirius Potter! You are not the boss of me, so don't start acting as if you are!" Then she was off, storming back to the castle.

"Jeez, what's her problem?" Malfoy asked.

"Rose never liked being told what to do." Albus smiled slightly, before remembering why Rose wasn't talking to him. That wiped the smile off his face.

"Yeah, I think I got that vibe." Malfoy muttered. I laughed.

"Right, so what are we going to do?"

"Sorry?" Albus and Malfoy said at the same time.

"Well we can't just walk away from this! Someone is in trouble and we're the only ones that know!"

"And Weasley." Malfoy pointed out. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, Rose too. But she isn't getting involved. She has her own problems to deal with."

Albus nodded and walked around the Hut, studying it.

"What the hell are you doing, Al?" Malfoy asked.

"Whoever is in trouble went out through the back. The trail of blood suggests that they were dragged." I walked over to where Al was standing. Surely enough, a trail of deep red blood had been smeared through the grass outside the back door. It lead into the Forbidden Forest. I started to follow, but Malfoy spoke up.

"Is it really a good idea? Going into the Forbidden Forest when no one knows we're in here?"

"Rose knows." I say. This seems to satisfy him.

"Fine. Let's get this over with." Albus nodded and together the three of us walked into the Forest, our wands illuminating the path in front of us.

**So... how was it? A review maybe? Pretty please? Pretty please with the Phelps Twins on top? :3**


	12. The Cloaked Woman

**Author's Note:**

**Personally, this is my favourite chapter so far. It's the first one from Scorpius's point of view which I enjoyed writing. Just a warning, there is a sad death in this chapter! Maybe some feedback as to whether or not the death was really necessary? I'm still debating it myself :)**

_Scorpius's Pov:_

Did I want to be in the Forest? No I bloody well didn't! I'd never liked the Forest, or the creatures that lurked in the shadows created by the huge trees. It was the main reason I had dropped Care of Magical Creatures. Having to spend two hours a week in the Forbidden Forest was something I had grown to dread since the lesson with the damn Hippogriff. For some reason, it had decided to want me dead. I had done everything Hagrid told me to and yet still it seemed intent on killing me! I had bowed properly and waited for it to bow back. Once it had done, I went up and stroked it, only to have it trample on me! Hagrid was so worried. At first I thought he was worried about me, but then Al's dad had explained that my dad had had the same kind of trouble in a similar lesson and his dad had pressed charges. When my dad found out, he cracked a smile. However, my granddad was a different matter. He tried to sue the school and get Hagrid fired (a similar thing happened when Dad was t school.) McGonagall had asked me if I wanted to press charges and of course I said no. Hagrid was my friend and I didn't blame him for what had happened. It was just the stupid animal! But I'd never liked the lesson after that.

So when a herd of centaurs came galloping past, missing me by an inch, I screamed like a girl. James and Al laughed their heads off afterwards, saying I hadn't been anywhere near the Centaurs. Again I felt my pale cheeks burning a red that could compete with Rose's hair.

"James, it's been almost an hour! We must be right in the middle of the Forest by now!" Al moaned.

"Al, it was you who wanted to come in here!" James yelled back at his brother. That was when the first flash of red soared through the Forest, blinding me.

"What the fuck was that?!" I yelled. James and Al shrugged. I could hear screams and spells being cast. It sounded relatively near. The other two didn't seem worried about it.

"James, we need to split up. There's no way we're going to be able to find Hagrid or whoever is in trouble as one group. The trail disappeared half an hour ago." James shook his head.

"No, Al. We stay together. The Forest can be dangerous, especially at night."

"But, James, if we'd split up earlier, we'd already have covered every inch of the Forest! We haven't even done half of it!"

"He's right, James. We need to split up."

"Fine. But Al, you're coming with me. I'm not going to get you lost or something. Dad would kill me."

"What? James, I'm quite happy on my own."

"I know Al, but I'm your brother. Even if I don't really like you most of the time, you're still my responsibility. Malfoy, you're alright on your own?"

No. I hated the Forest. It scared me stiff. The dark played tricks with my mind. I didn't want to go alone. I wanted someone to watch my back.

"Yeah, problem." What? I hated the forest! So why had I just agreed to go wandering off alone?

Because if I said I was scared, my reputation would be ruined.

No, that wasn't it. So why had I sounded so sure that I was fine with being alone?

"Right, ok. Al and I will go that way," he pointed to the left. "And you can go that way." He pointed in the direction the red flash had come from. I nodded and started making my way to the right.

"Malfoy!" James shouted after me. "If you get into any trouble, send your Patronus to Al. Ok?"

"Yeah, whatever. Don't pretend you actually care if I get in trouble."

"You're right, I don't." James said before he disappeared into the darkness with Al, leaving me alone. I continued towards the right.

Stupid James. What was his problem? He only hated me because I was a Slytherin!

"No." I said to myself. "He hates you because of how you treat Rose."

I practiced my Patronus as I walked, making sure I was still able to produce one.

I thought back to the moment when I had been picked for the Slytherin Quidditch team as Seeker. It was easily the best memory I had and it was enough to make my silver cheetah erupt from the tip of my wand. It stalked in front of me, as if it was guiding me somewhere. I followed it until it suddenly dissolved into a silver mist. I immediately lit my wand. There was nothing there. I continued to walk forwards, pushing branches aside. Some damn plant scraped across my leg, leaving it trickling blood. I cursed under my breath but kept moving.

That's when I heard the scream.

It was high pitched, so almost defiantly belonged to a girl. It was close as well. I just didn't realise exactly how close…

I began to break into a run, yelling as I went. I pushed against one last branch and launched myself into… a field?

No, that wasn't a very good description. It was more a small patch of grass hidden by the surrounding trees.

In the middle of the grassy area was a tree. Tied to the tree was a girl, covered in blood, cuts and bruises. She lifted her head enough for me to recognise her. It was Al's sister, Lily. She cried out. Without thinking, I sprinted towards the tiny fourth year.

"Lily? Are you ok?"

"No!" She managed to cry before blood spurted from her mouth. "Scorpius… go!"

"Where's Hagrid?" I asked.

"He's dead." She cried. I felt a sudden pang of shock which was quickly swept aside by a new feeling of numbness.

"Ok, Lily. Let's get you out of here." I went to untie her when a cold voice rang out from behind me.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you." I turned my head to see a cloaked figure. The voice belonged to a woman.

"Who- who are you? What have you done to Hagrid?!"

"Who? Oh, that useless piece of junk. Well, I killed him. Like the girl said." I could still hear Lily whimpering from behind me.

"Don't you dare call him that!" I couldn't believe Hagrid was dead. That friendly, loveable giant of a man was now a cold, empty body.

The woman chuckled.

"Who are you?!" I yelled again.

"Me? I'm your worst nightmare, Scorpius Vincent Malfoy." She hissed my name.

"You know me?"

"Who doesn't? The famous son of the Death Eater that failed to complete the one task he was set."

"Don't talk about my dad like that!" I threw a curse at her, which she easily blocked. I still couldn't tell who it was, the cloak covered their face.

What happened next became a brutal duel. Both of us attacked the other, each successfully hitting the opponent at times. She struck me with some sort of curse that sent my flying backwards and hitting my spine on the hard ground. I groaned but got up and sent another at the cloaked woman. It hit her squarely in the chest. I ran to Lily and with one simple movement of my wand, the ropes binding her to the tree were gone.

"Run Lily! That way!" I pointed north. "Get out of here!" She nodded and ran. That was quite an achievement seeing as half her skin seemed to have been ripped from her body.

I felt a hot sear of pain rocket up my back.

I was on fire.

I yelled and rolled onto the ground, desperately trying to rid myself of the flames. Finally, when the fire was extinguished, I looked up to see the cloaked woman only metres from me, and still approaching. I shuffled back, getting to my feet and running as far away from her as possible.

But she was too quick. Before I had reached the cover of the trees, she had transfigured them into a wooden wall. I was trapped.

"You're not going to be able to wriggle your way out of this one, Scorpius." She said and bent over me. I shivered as her body crouched over mine. I wanted to run, to yell. But she had me stuck. I couldn't move. But I could talk.

"What did you do? To Lily?"

"The girl?" She whispered intimately, her mouth millimetres from my ear. And yet still I could not see her face. "I tortured her. Painfully and slowly. I tore layers of skin from her body, then remade it and tore it off again." Just the image was enough for me to struggle for freedom. She slammed a pale hand onto my chest, sending me to the floor. Damn, she was strong.

"I think I'm rather going to enjoy this." What was she going to do? Kill me? Torture me? Rape me? All of the above?

"Oi! Bitch! Over here!"

The cloaked woman hissed and turned her head, just as a green lightening bolt hit her in the back. She screamed in agony. She managed to compose herself for a second, just enough to turn back to me and lick my lips. But her tongue, it wasn't normal. It was too long and thin, like a reptile's. It traced the outline of my lips and then she pulled it back into her mouth with a slurp.

"Tasty." She moaned in a whisper before the final lightening bolt hit her. She screamed again and was gone, leaving me looking up at my saviour.

"Rose?"

**Did you like it as much as I did? I hope so! Please review, it's important to me and I'm so grateful! You guys are the best!**


	13. Reasoning with the Truth

**Author's Note:**

**I know what you're thinking. Finally! A chapter with Rose and Scorpius together! Alone! I know... it's a Rose/Scorpius fanfic and yet this is the first chapter we really see them together. I hope you like it, I really like Rose's attitude in this one. Enjoy!**

_Rose's Pov:_

"Are we calling each other by our first names now, _Scorpius_?" I smirked, finally lowering my wand.

"Rose, what the hell are you doing here?" His face was hilarious. He looked like his parents had just caught him sleeping with someone in their bed!

"What? You thought I was just going to do what James told me? I thought I said, I don't take orders from anyone."

"No," He managed to stutter. "I meant, what the hell are you doing _here_." He gestured to the small opening in the Forest.

"Oh right, that's easy. I was going towards the castle so that you thought I was going back to the Hospital Wing, and then I doubled back and went into the Forest a different way."

"You- you just saved my life…" I could tell he didn't like admitting it.

"Doesn't mean you have to pretend to like me or stop your girlfriend being a bitch to me, _Malfoy._" I spat his last name in his face. He looked shocked as I turned and walked away, leaving him lying helplessly in the grass. What? Did he think that just because I saved his life, we were going to become best friends now? Please! I could never forgive him for making my life hell.

I walked off and was about to go back into the trees when he called after me.

"Wait, Rose!" I turned back around to glare at him.

"What Malfoy?"

"Could you give me a hand?"

"Oh, sorry!" I put a shocked look on my face. "How could I possibly forget?" I walked back over and reached out my hand. He took it and heaved himself up.

"Rose, you don't have to hate me you know."

"Oh really? Am I being unreasonable?"

"Yes." Malfoy said, seeming relieved that I had understood how 'silly' my behaviour was.

"Well, I apologise for hating the person that made me feel so bad about myself that the only way out was death." He winced, and I was glad it had stung. It was true!

"No, Rose. I didn't mean that. I really am sorry for what I put you through."

"Oh, and that makes everything better does it?!" I screamed at him, not only surprising him but also shocking myself.

"No, Rose. I know that what I did was unacceptable, but-"

"Finally, the stupid Slytherin gets it! I will never forgive you, Malfoy! I detest you! You disgust me! Everything about you makes me want to be sick! You are so obnoxious, it's almost melodramatic! But here's a news flash, Malfoy! You are the scum of the earth and I hate you!" And with that I walked off, my feet bashing on the ground. Suddenly his hand caught in mine. He pulled my arm, forcing me to turn around to look at him. He had a nice face… Oh, who was I kidding?! He was bloody gorgeous! But that didn't stop him from being a dick! And it certainly didn't stop me from thing his guts.

"What do you want Malfoy?!" I demanded, pulling my hand from his grasp.

"I want you to realise how sorry I am."

"I've already told you, I'm not going to forgive you!"

"I know. And I'll never forgive myself…"

"Oh, poor Malfoy. Will he be forced to live his life in regret? Oh, I am so sorry!" Thankfully, my sarcasm was not lost on him.

"Rose, just shut up and listen. I know you hate me. I know that will never change. I just don't understand how you can't see that you couldn't possibly hate me as much as I do!"

"What?" He'd caught me off guard. This was Malfoy, the boy who was 'perfect'. Who couldn't do anything wrong! Telling me that he hated himself!

"I despise myself. Everything about me is wrong. I'm not who you think I am."

"Oh please. Don't try to tell me that you are an act. I'm not buying it, Scorpius."

"Are we calling each other by our first names, _Rose_?" He smirked. I felt my ears burning up.

"No, Malfoy. That was simply an accident. You're still the same piece of shit you've always been, and always will be." For the third time, I tried to leave. I didn't want to talk to him. I didn't want a constant reminder of the teasing, the beating up. I just wanted to leave.

"Rose… Tell me why you hate me." His voice was kind and soft, but I wasn't fooled. Without facing him, I replied.

"Well, _Scorpius_, apart from the fact you are an obnoxious prat, maybe for some reason the fact that you have teased me for half of my life has slightly annoyed me. I can't imagine why that would irritate me, but…"

"Alright, I get it. You hate me because-"

"Oh Scorpius dear, I'm not finished yet." I started counting my fingers as I named countless other reasons he was a prat. I got to thirty two. "And finally, the fact that every night you seem to have a different girl in your bed. I mean, isn't that a little sluttish?" He laughed at that.

"Rose, I know you hate me. I get that much. But why do you care if I've slept with every girl in this school apart from you? You're not jealous or something?" I turned back round, my fiery hair sweeping over my freckled face.

"Jealous? Of what?"

"Er, this." He gestured to his body.

"Please! I'm neither as desperate or shallow as your usual one night stands. Oh, by the way, what does Zabini think of you cheating on her?" I grinned because I knew I'd got one over him.

"She doesn't care. We're not together anymore." For a second I was kind of shocked. This is probably why I didn't back off as Scorpius came closer to me.

"Yeah? What was the reason you broke up?" Then his lips formed one very simple word.

"You."

**So, what did you think? Good? Bad? Review maybe? I've had lots of people asking me to write faster. I am sorry but I've just been away and on Sunday I go away again... for two weeks... Yeah, sorry about that. I'm taking my laptop so will still write, but won't be able to post anything. However, when I get back, hopefully I'll be able to upload six or seven more chapters... maybe even more. Anyway, sorry. Review? Thanks!**


	14. Framed

**Author's Note:**

**This one isn't as long and didn't take nearly as long to write. I've known what would happen in this chapter for a long time, so I'm glad to finally have written it. Please review. It means a lot! Enjoy the chapter. And yes, they finally kiss!**

_Scorpius's Pov:_

Without thinking, I leaned in and kissed her. As soon as our lips touched, I felt a jolt of electricity surge though my body. At first, it was just a gentle kiss, but then it became more urgent. So urgent, in fact, that I tried to pull back. But Rose grabbed hold of me and kept me glued to her lips. Her hands began to roam and I didn't stop her. I finally realised something that had been nagging at me for a lifetime. I was in love with Rose Weasley.

She pushed harder against my lips and together we fell into a heap. Finally, our mouths parted, mine transforming into a grin. I expected to see the same expression on Rose's face, but instead I saw horror and guilt.

She pulled herself from on top of me and got to her feet, pulling strands of red behind her ears. I lifted myself off the ground as well, until we were standing a metre apart.

"That shouldn't have happened." Is all she said.

"What?" I was confused. What did she mean? Hadn't it been her that had grabbed hold of me so that we could kiss for longer?

"It can't happen. Us. We're not meant to be together."

"What are you talking about?"

"Just- Just forget that any of this ever happened!" She said and ran, crying, back into the Forest and the darkness.

"Rose! I- I love you..." Did she hear me? I don't know. By that time I was too preoccupied by the yell that echoed through the Forest.

"MALFOY!" I turned in the direction just in time to get hit squarely in the chest by a curse. I yelled as I collapsed onto the ground.

"How fucking dare you!" James yelled at me. I tried to get up, but whatever curse he'd used was strong and had taken it out of me. He kicked me in the stomach multiple times until finally I stood up and yelled.

"Stop! What the hell are you doing Potter?" He didn't stop to talk, just roared and tackled me to the ground. He punched me so I punched him. We were sprawling around on the ground, kicking and punching one another. I didn't even know why. Finally I managed to get rid of him and clambered to my feet. I raised my wand.

"Going to curse me, Malfoy?" James spat in my face.

"What? Why would I do that?"

"Well you didn't seem to mind torturing my sister!" He yelled at me and punched me again, catching me off guard. I fell to the ground where I received more physical abuse. But I didn't care. James had just blamed me for what had happened to Lily. But I had saved her. Why would Lily say otherwise? We'd always gotten on ok.

"James..." I managed to get out. "I would never..."

"Don't lie to me, you bastard!" He said. He was crying now. Still he attacked me, but he seemed weakened, maybe by the thought of his sister. He raised his fist once more and that's when I knew I was as good as dead.

"James. Stop and think." Mr Potter's voice was calm but full of authority. "Step away from Scorpius." James did as his father said. I looked over to where Mr Potter was standing. Behind him was Al, who was purposely avoiding my eyes.

"Mr Potter, I never-" Al's dad held up his hand and I stopped midsentence.

"I thought you were better Scorpius. I gave you a chance when Al brought you home that summer. I didn't judge you on your family's history. How wrong I was..."

"No, Mr Potter! You don't understand, I-"

"I've heard enough, Scorpius. I'm not actually here as your friend's father, I'm here to do my job." Mr Potter was an Auror, one of the best Aurors of all time.

"What do you mean?"

"Scorpius Vincent Malfoy, I am arresting you for the use of Dark Magic and for torturing a student." And my world seemed to collapse around me.

**Thoughts? Why not write them in a review? Will hopefully do another Chapter today but no promises!**


	15. The Feeling of Betrayal

**Author's Note:**

**So I said that maybe I would be able to write one more chapter today... but I didnt really think it was possible! That's 3 chapters today! I'm pretty damn pleased with myself. **

**Anyway, this chapter goes back to just before the confrontation between Scorpius and James. Hope you enjoy it :)**

_Albus's Pov:_

I yawned and James turned back to face me.

"Are you alright? Maybe we should head back."

"No, I'm fine! Honestly!" I said hastily and continued walking.

"Well, I think we're going in the wrong direction. Maybe we should try and find Malfoy." I turned back to face him and sigh.

"James, when are you going to start calling him Scorpius?"

"When he starts treating Rose right."

"Well then, why don't you call me Potter?" I said stubbornly. I knew it was just as much my fault as Scorp's about what had happened to Rose.

"Because you're my brother. And besides, if I started calling you Potter, it would be like I was talking to myself. I'm not ending up in the Mental Ward at St Mungos." I chuckled. "Seriously, though, Al. We need to start going back."

"Yeah, alright." He was right. We'd been walking for half an hour without Scorpius and had had no luck. We started back when we heard a series of branches breaking. Someone seemed to be running through the Forest, towards us.

"James…?" I looked questioningly at my brother.

"Wands out, Al." He instructed. I did as I was told. I pulled out my wand, Cherry, Unicorn Hair, 10 and a quarter inches. Surprisingly springy. Reciting the words from Ollivander calmed me down a little.

They were getting closer, whoever they were. I thought they were lost. They seemed to be changing direction all the time.

"Hello?" Came a small melodic voice from a bush.

"Lily?" James exclaimed.

"James!" My sister cried and ran straight through the thorny bush. I gasped.

What had used to be my sister was now unrecognizable. Her flowing red hair had been singed off, as though her hair had been set on fire. One of her eyes was seeping with blood and her face was covered in bruises and scratches. Her clothes had been ripped and torn, revealing her arms, legs and stomach. I almost threw up. Her skin was raw, muscle and bone peeking through her right leg. She burst into tears and ran at James.

"Lily?" My brother sounded as ill as I felt. "What happened?!"

"It hurt so much, James." She whimpered. "I begged him to stop but he wouldn't listen."

"What did he do?" James asked,

"He… tortured me… It hurt… I screamed…"

Then she began to cry hysterically.

"Who was it Lily?" I asked. She looked at me with an almost pitying expression.

"Scorpius Malfoy." She whispered and then she fainted in James's arms, leaving the two of us bewildered.

"Malfoy?!" James exclaimed and then looked accusingly at me.

"No…" I said. "She must have made a mistake. Scorpius would never do something like this. He's alright James."

"You trusted him! You tried to be like him! And look what he's done to our sister!"

"I don't believe it, James." But was that really true? Scorpius could be cruel at times, especially towards girls. And he defiantly knew Dark Magic, which was obviously what had been used on Lily. But he was my friend!

"Face it, Al. you trusted him, and he tortured Lily!"

"No James! You're wrong! There's been a mistake…"

"Stop making excuses and take Lily back to school. Get dad!" he told me. I had tears in my eyes now. Would Scorpius really betray me like that? He was a Malfoy, and I had no doubt that a Malfoy would have no problem with torture or betrayal… maybe he had done it…

James seemed to notice the tears running down my cheeks.

"Hey, Al," He said softly. "It's not your fault. But you need to get Lily to the Hospital Wing! Then get dad. He'll be at work by now. You can contact him from there. You need to be quick. Can you carry her?" I nodded. Of course I could. I had almost as much muscle as James, and was easily as strong as Scorpius. Scorpius… even the thought of him made me sick to my stomach. James handed Lily to me. She was so tiny and thin and innocent. She looked like she could be asleep… or dead…

"Don't think like that, Al!" I told myself. I cradled her in my arms and within seconds her blood had stained my white shirt.

"What about you James? Where are you going?" I already knew the answer.

"I'm going to find Malfoy and make him pay." And then he was gone, leaving me to retrace our footsteps. I knew now I needed to hurry before James did something rash- like get himself killed. If Scorpius could do this to my sister, he could easily kill James.

I broke into a steady run and found my way back to Hagrid's Hut.

Hagrid. What had happened to Hagrid? Was he alright? Was he even alive?

I got to the Hospital Wing soon enough. I was getting sick of having to visit it. Madam Pomfrey took one look at Lily and promptly screamed.

"Please, can you help her?"

"I can try…" She said. It was obvious that the sight had shaken her. "What exactly happened?"

"I don't really know. I was visiting Hagrid and-" How much could I say? Everything? Nothing? "She just appeared from the forest. She's fainted."

"I can see that" Madam Pomfrey said. "Put her here." She pointed towards a bed. I gently put her down.

"I need to go and speak to… James. My brother. I need to tell him what's happened." The lie seemed believable enough.

"Very well. Oh, and if you happen to see Miss Weasley, would you have her report back here immediately! She wasn't authorised to leave."

"She's not here?" I was shocked. Rose would easily have been able to get back here from Hagrid's hut. Where was she?

She never came back, I realised.

I left and went straight to McGonagall's office.

"Butterbeer!" I yelled as I ran towards he Headmistresses office. The door swung open. I'd overheard Flitwick using the password on the first day of term.

I looked around the office but James seemed to be right. McGonagall wasn't here. I threw some Floo Powder into the fireplace.

"The Ministry of Magic, Auror Head Quarters!" I yelled into the flames and stuck my head in. I found myself looking into my dad's office. And there he was. He must have just arrived from home to do his night shift. "Dad!" I called.

"Albus?" My father looked up from the newspaper he was reading. He looked around and finally saw my head in the fireplace. "Al! What are you doing? It's late!"

"I know dad, but you need to come now! Lily's in trouble and I'm worried about James, and Scorpius-" I broke off. My dad nodded and got out of his chair. I pulled my head out the fire just before he appeared in McGonagall office.

"Show me where to go. You can tell me what happened on the way." He said. I nodded and together we walked through the castle. I filled him in on everything that had happened as we walked. Just as we passed the Gryffindor Common Room, I realised I had no idea where in the Forest we needed to go.

"Wait here!" I told him and ran past the Fat Lady and into the Common Room. I went straight to the Seventh Year Boys Dorm. "Freddie?" The lump that was my cousin grunted as a response. "I need the map!" I whispered.

"Over there!" He motioned to his bedside desk and then fell asleep again, snoring his had off. I grabbed the Marauders Map and ran back down to dad.

"Brilliant, Al." My dad grinned at me as I looked at the map, I could see James and Scorpius in a clearing in the Forest.

"We need to hurry, before they kill each other." My dad nodded.

"Al, grab m arm."

"Wha-" As I touched his arm, I felt as though my insides had been pulled out and tied in knots. I shut my eyes and when I reopened them, we were in the Forest. "What was that?!"

"We just Apparated." My dad explained. "As head Auror, I'm allowed to do that. Only the Minister, Headmistress and I are given the privilege." I smiled in awe until I heard James.

"Don't lie to me, you bastard!" My brother's voice echoed through the Forest. My dad walked through the trees. I followed.

"James. Stop and think." My dad warned my brother. James lowered his fist which had been aimed at Scorpius's head and retreated. Dad said something else, but I didn't really hear, because I was looking at Scorpius. Not so that he could tell I was looking at him. Just enough so that I could read his body language.

Was I looking the person responsible for whatever had happened to my sister? I was torn between what I thought and what I wanted to believe. Then I came back to reality, my dad still talking to Scorpius.

"Scorpius Vincent Malfoy, I am arresting you for the use of Dark Magic and for torturing a student."

The shock on my 'friend's face was enough to make me doubt his guilt. But I reminded myself that Lily had no reason to lie. Scorpius seemed to be lost for words. He was just shaking his head, his eyes wide in horror. My dad raised his wand and out of the end came handcuffs. I'd seen them many times when my dad teased me with the threat of sending me to Azkaban if I didn't do the dishes.

No magic worked on them. No one could free themselves once those bound their wrists. And that's exactly what they did to Scorpius. He tried to break free, but it was no good. Finally, he gave in and bowed his head. I think he was crying.

"James, go back up to the castle and send an owl to your mother please. Al, go and check on Lily. I'm sure Rose would also appreciate the company." We nodded and then our dad was gone, as was Scorpius.

"James, I'm sorry I ever doubted you. You were right, again. Scorpius did it. I just can't believe I was ever friends with him."

"It's ok, Al. We all make mistakes." He carefully touched his eye. "Damn, I'm defiantly going to get a black eye. And my lip is going to swell for sure."

"Here." I said and conjured up an ice pack. He pressed it to his eye and then his lip.

"Thanks." He smiled at me and together we made our way to Hogwarts. Luckily, we could see it so knew which direction we were going in. As we walked, we talked. About Quidditch. Then girls. And then just guy stuff.

"James, do you think Rose will ever forgive me?" I ask quietly.

"I think first you need to forgive yourself. Then maybe, one day, she'll come round. Its not like she can hate you forever, right?" he laughed. It seemed the trauma today had erased any unease between us. And I liked that. I liked that a lot.

**Review? I'd really appreciate it and I have done three chapters today... ;)**

**Hopefully will do a couple more tomorrow but for now I'm going to settle down and watch Tom Daley diving ;)**


	16. The Lake Again

**Author's Note:**

**This one is a slightly shorter chapter. It didn't take very long to do. Hopefully there will be another couple today and tomorrow. But I have got to pack for the holiday I'm going on tomorrow evening… Well, I'll try my best. But I can't promise anything!**

**This chapter takes place after the kiss between Rose and Scorpius.**

_Rose's Pov:_

I ran from the Forest, my hands wiping away sobs. I kept running, although I wasn't sure where I was going until I got there.

I looked out over the Lake, admiring it's beauty. This was the first time I had been to the edge of the water since I had tried to take my life. Thinking back, I had been right about choosing this place to die. It really was gorgeous and eerily peaceful. I sank down on the bank and reached a hand out, plunging it into the water. It might have been beautiful, but it was also damn cold. I swirled my hand around for a while, just thinking about everything.

Well, not everything. Mainly the kiss. Oh, alright. Only the kiss.

The feeling of Scorpius's lips on mine, the heat of his body… I shook my head. It was silly. Scorpius and I could never be together. It was stupid. And besides, I hated him. Hadn't I literally just been telling him every reason that he disgusted me?

But did I really hate him? I mean, sure, he'd made my life a misery. But so had so many other people! I was used to it. And I'd always been attracted to Scorpius. He had the face of an angel and the body of a god! But did he have the personality to match? He hadn't used to… But when he had apologised to me, I had to admit that I'd felt something. Something I hadn't ever felt before.

I wasn't supposed to love him! We were enemies, just as our parents had been! Then again, wasn't dad always telling us that he had used to hate mum? But I wasn't going to marry Scorpius! Or have kids with him!

And still the kiss kept coming back to haunt me…

I got up and walked back towards the Great Hall. I'd find Scorpius and apologise for what I said. I still thought I was right- we weren't supposed to be together. But that didn't mean I didn't want to be.

As I pushed open the door at the entrance to the Castle, I was met by a crowd of noisy students. That was weird, because it had to be after midnight and the Professors would have given anyone out of bed detention for a week! I made my way through the body of people until I saw Dominique.

"Rose! Good to see that you're better!" She had to yell over the student's voices.

"Yeah, well I'm technically not supposed to be here."

"Oh, I see. Well, come on. We'll go talk to the others." She took my wrist and led me through the crowd to where Freddie, Roxanne and Hugo were standing.

"Rose!" Freddie cheered and pulled me into a warm embrace. Roxanne simply ignored me. Then again, she ignored everyone. Hugo gave me a nervous grin, as if he was waiting for me to explode.

"What's going on? Why is everyone up?" I asked.

"We don't know! Everyone else was up so we thought we'd join them. Apparently there are Aurors in the school!" Dominique explained. She seemed excited. I, however, was not.

Aurors in the castle? That had to have something to do with the cloaked woman. I didn't believe in coincidence. Just then James and Al joined us. Both had grim expressions on their faces.

"James! Where were you? You never made it back to the Dorm."

"Yeah I know. Al needed my help…"

"Do you have any idea why everyone's down here?" Hugo asked.

"Er-" Before James could say anything, the entire Hall went silent. Then there were whispers and mutters from the far side of the Hall. None of us could see what was going on so we pushed our way through a group of fifth year Ravenclaws that included Dominique's brother Louis. And still more whispers. I pushed my way to the front, not wanting to be teased and taunted with whispers. It was simply frustrating.

My whole body froze. Only my hair was not static, as it flew forwards with the momentum.

Scorpius Malfoy was walking right past me. His head lifted enough to look into my eyes. He looked scared. Then he lowered his head, as though ashamed. Had he noticed my shock? He certainly would have if he'd been looking at me as I noticed the handcuffs around his wrists. And behind him, his wand pointed at Scorpius' back, was Uncle Harry. I knew straight away that something was not right. My uncle was not wearing his usual attire, but instead his Auror Uniform.

My uncle was arresting Scorpius Malfoy…

I turned and pushed my way through the crowd. I wanted nothing less than to vanish and never have to walk on this earth again.

**Review? Please? I finished this whilst watching Tom Daley in the semi finals so sorry if it isn't completely perfect... I was distracted... **

**Anyway, now that I have put the lovely image of Tom Daley in your head... maybe a review?**


	17. Retracing Our Footsteps

**Author's Note:**

**Another chapter done! Wooo! Hope you enjoy this one. It might have been slightly influenced by my love of detecive series, especially Sherlock! ;)**

**Hope you enjoy and review.**

_James's Pov:_

Malfoy looked up at me. He didn't glare, but I could see the hatred he now felt for me in his eyes. Then his eyes moved to Rose. I think their eyes must have met because he quickly looked away.

Was he ashamed? Well, I hoped so. Madam Pomfrey had told us that Lily would make a full recovery, although the scars could be permanent. But I still loathed Malfoy for what he had done to our family. He'd made Rose's life hell, he'd turned Al into a cold hearted Slytherin and now he'd almost killed my sister. I couldn't forgive him for any of it. Finally, I understood why Rose was unable to forgive my brother. Because even if Malfoy now did everything possible to be kind; if he donated his entire fortune to St Mungos (where my sister was being taken) or gave the whole Gryffindor Quidditch Team new broomsticks and equipment, he would still have harmed my family. And that could never change.

Someone pushed past me. I moved obediently out of their way, and then looked over my shoulder to see them leaving the Great Hall. It was Rose.

I nearly followed her, but then decided that I had more important things to do. Rose could take care of herself.

"Al, we need to go and meet mum." I told my brother. He nodded

"Aunty Ginny's here? Why?" Dominique asked.

"It's a long story…"

"James, tell me!" Dominique pleaded.

"Alright, come with us. But please don't get in the way. Mum might be in a bit of a state."

"What happened?" Freddie asked. I ignored his question and lead them back to the Hospital Wing. Mum was standing outside. She wasn't crying, but she was shaking like mad. I gave her a quick hug, as did Al.

"How is she?" I asked quietly.

"She's doing alright. Will your father be…?"

"I don't know. He was taking Malfoy back to the Ministry, I think." My mum nodded.

"You two come inside. I'm afraid the rest of you will need to wait here or go back to your Dorms. Only direct family are allowed in at the moment."

"Is someone going to tell me what the hell happened?!" Roxanne yelled. I glared at her. My mum was already upset without her niece yelling at her.

"Roxanne, just leave it. Al, you tell them." I took my mum inside and together we sat down. Al had trusted Malfoy, so he would be the one to explain how his friend had tortured our sister.

I assumed by the yells and curses coming out of my cousin's mouths that Al told them. I watched them leaving, although you could tell that they really didn't want to.

I held my mum's hand as Al entered. We sat down and watched Madam Pomfrey trying to work wonders on Lily, before finally admitting that there was nothing more she could do, and there was still a lot of work to be done. Lily would have to be moved to St Mungos.

Even after our sister had been taken out of the Hospital Wing, we still sat there in silence. I couldn't bring myself to leave.

What if Lily didn't survive?

If that happened, I would personally hunt down Malfoy and kill him. And I wouldn't care less.

McGonagall then entered and asked to speak to me. I squeezed my mums hand and stepped outside the room.

"Mr Potter, as you are probably aware, Mr Malfoy has been arrested for the use of Dark Magic. You are required to attend his hearing on Thursday."

"What? Why?"

"Your sister, who would be the prime witness, is not fit to give evidence. I have been told that you were with Mr Malfoy shortly before and after the incident. Therefore, you are now the prime witness."

"I… I've got school. I can't get behind or I won't pass and then I won't be allowed to play Quidditch."

"Mr Potter, if you're really serious about your studies then I will privately tutor you and get you up to date on everything you have missed. I'm afraid that you cannot simply refuse to attend Mr Malfoy's hearing. You could be the difference between right and wrong."

"Why can't Al go? They were friends."

"Exactly. Your brother would be seen as biased. No, I'm afraid that it will have to be you."

"Fine. Do I need to prepare anything?"

"Only your facts. As long as you know your point of view, you will be fine. I need to remind you, Mr. Potter. Scorpius Malfoy is a student at this school and his charges can only have a negative effect on the reputation of Hogwarts. Therefore I strongly urge you to speak nothing but the truth."

"Of course, Professor. But the truth will not help Malfoy get off the charges."

"As long as it is the truth." Then she dismissed me and went to talk to my mum and Al, presumably about me. Al came out a little later with tears in his eyes.

"What now, Al?" I didn't mean to sound so annoyed, but I was tired.

"Hagrid's dead. The Aurors recovered his body an hour ago. It wasn't a pretty sight, apparently."

"What?!"

"He's gone…" I couldn't believe it, and neither could Al. Hagrid had been very close to us and our parents. His absence was sure to have an affect on everything that was going on. Then I had a thought.

"Al, you know the blood in Hagrid's Hut?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, I'm positive that it was human blood."

"Yeah, you said. It wasn't Hagrid's. What difference does that make?"

"Well, whose blood was it?"

"Lily's, I guess." He seemed repulsed by the thought. I didn't blame him.

"Exactly. Which means that Lily had already been tortured, or was at least in the process of being tortured when you went down to Hagrid's the first time."

"So then it couldn't have been Scorpius… Oh, wait…"

"What?" I was excited now. This was good evidence for me to give the court.

"Scorpius was gone for a little while…"

"Tell me everything."

"Cant I just come to the hearing too?"

"McGonagall said that you would seem biased, seeing as you were friends…"

"I guess. Fine I'll tell you."

"Ok, go from the beginning."

"Well, you took us both to the Hospital Wing to visit Rose. Then you had that fight with Scorpius. I ran away when I found out what had happened and I thought Scorpius was following me."

"So did I."

"Well he didn't. I went to the Dorm to chill out and think. He turned up a little later."

"How much later?"

"An hour or so?"

"Yeah, I bumped into him after I spoke to McGonagall. He was probably going back to your Dorm."

"Where was he coming from?"

"I don't know, it was quite quick really."

"Could he have been coming from Hagrid's?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"So that's what happened. He went to Hagrid's with Lily, attacked her and Hagrid, hid them in the Forest and then came back pretending nothing had happened."

"Ok, this is a good start. Keep going."

"Well he came into the Dorm and for a while we just sat in silence. Then he went to the bathroom. When he came back I said I was going to apologise to Rose. He was telling me not to apologise. That it would make things wore. Just as I was trying to decide whether or not to go, Chelsea walked in."

"Zabini? Malfoy's girlfriend slut?"

"Yeah. She told me I was stupid for wanting to apologise to Rose. She didn't know what had happened. Anyway, she started saying things about Rose and it annoyed me and Scorpius. They fought and broke up."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It was always going to happen though. Scorpius had been cheating on her with about ten different girls."

"Did she know?"

"Yeah, but she didn't care. As long as she had him, she didn't mind sharing I guess."

"Ok, so what happened next?

"Chelsea left and Scorpius said he needed some fresh air. He suggested the lake but I said no. Then he suggested Hagrid's."

"He suggested it? Why would he do that?"

"Well, if we went then he would have known what we'd find. He'd have known that I would come to you and together we would have gone in the forest following the trail looking for Hagrid. Then he could have got rid of the evidence."

"Yeah that makes sense." Did it? It was a risky thing for Malfoy to do. What if Al had gone to a presser instead? Malfoy would have been caught…

"Ok, so when we got there, I didn't see the blood straight away. I was inside when I noticed it. We legged it up to the Castle and came t of find you. You know the rest."

"Yeah. Which one of us suggested going into the forest? Was it him?"

"Well, he tried to get Rose to go away, if I remember correctly. I think you actually decided to go in and we followed. Scorpius looked kind of nervous. .."

"Yeah he did! He didn't want us to find Lily of Hagrid! And when I asked him to split up, he agreed straight away."

"Yeah that's weird in itself. Scorpius is scared of the dark and he hates the Forest."

"But then, why would he have hidden Hagrid and Lily in a place he didn't like?"

"So people wouldn't suspect him?"

"Yeah, that must be it!" We'd done it! All I had to do was recite this in front of the court and Malfoy would be spending the rest of his days in Azkaban!

**Did you like it? I'm writing as fast as I can although apparently that isnt good enough for some of you... Oh well, I'll try to do one more today. It will defiantly be posted by tomorrow (british time)**

**Review?**


	18. Too Much Toast

**Author's Note:**

**I hope you're enjoying the story so far. This chapter isn't the most exciting one I've done but it is needed to keep the story going. Hope you enjoy!**

_Rose's Pov:_

I was the first up the following morning. It was Monday, which meant that lessons would begin at ten. It was weird to think that everything that had occurred lately had all been packed into a couple of days.

I pulled myself from underneath my duvet and yawned. I hadn't gotten much sleep- I'd spent the night in the kitchens, stuffing myself with food. They say some people eat their emotions and that was defiantly true for me last night. I'd never eaten so much in my entire life! I'd made it back about half three in the morning, almost being caught by Filch. Well, Mrs Norris actually. I swear that cat is evil!

I looked around the room but nobody else was awake. I could hear Alice snoring from the bed next to mine. I liked Alice Longbottom. We weren't friends, but we got on alright.

I wondered what had woken me; normally if I went to sleep so late I wouldn't wake up until the early hours of the afternoon. I remembered that strictly speaking I wasn't supposed to be in here. I'd have to go back and speak to Madam Pomfrey.

I noticed a slight tapping of glass and looked over to the pain glass window. A huge golden eagle was perched right outside. I nearly screamed before I realised it was just delivering a letter to me. I opened the window and took the piece of paper. I was about to look for some food for the bird in return, when it took flight again. I watched it swoop through the grounds before I remembered the letter in my hand.

It was just a note, no envelope. I opened it up and quickly read it's contents.

_Help me._

I knew straight away it was from Scorpius. But how had he managed to send me a letter when he was being held at the Ministry?! I read the two words again and again. What could I do? What did Scorpius want me to do?

I pulled my uniform on and brushed my hair, not taking time to untangle the knots that had formed during the night.

I kept the letter, shoving it into my front pocket of my robes. By now the majority of Gryffindor had began to stir and were slowly getting ready for the school day. I went straight to Madam Pomfrey who was busy tending to a second year Hufflepuff who seemed to have a rare allergy to Mandrakes. I apologised for leaving without her permission, but insisted I was fine. She agreed that there was little more she could do and accepted my apology grudgingly. Then I went back to the Great Hall and helped myself to some toast. Dominique and Freddie joined me and we talked about Quidditch (something I had very little interest in.) More than anything, we tried to stay away from the topic of last night.

"Where's James, Freddie? Didn't he come down with you?"

"Nah, he was still asleep. I thought it was best to leave him; he could do with some rest. He's going to need it if we want to have a chance against Slytherin this weekend!" I had completely forgotten about the highly anticipated upcoming match.

Finally, Freddie said he needed to go and work on some Quidditch strategies in the Library. Dominique offered to join him, leaving me alone. I waited for James to appear, eating more and more toast, even though by this point I was full to bursting.

Finally I recognised the scruffy dark hair that was no doubt my cousin. He sat down next to me and smiled. He looked tired.

"Where have you been? Freddie and Dominique have already eaten."

"I just got up. I've never been so tired."

"James, I'm really sorry about Lily. Dominique told me what Malfoy did."

"Yeah, me too. And Hagrid."

"Yeah, that was a shock." And it had been. I'd always liked Hagrid, admired him actually. Although I didn't think much of his subject or his lessons or his teaching skills. Still, he had always been a welcome guest at the Burrow for Christmas."

"I'm going to Malfoy's hearing, by the way."

"Really? When?"

"Thursday."

"How come?"

"Lily is currently unconscious in St Mungos and Al used to be his best friend. So now I'm the main witness."

"Can I come?" It came out before I could stop it.

"What? To the hearing?"

"Yeah. You could do with the support and I could do with a break. Let's go together."

"I don't know…"

"Oh come on James! I was with you before you went into the Forest. And besides, if anyone should watch him being sentence to Azkaban, surely it should be me. After everything he did to me." Of course I didn't really mean that. But it seemed that the only way to help Scorpius was to be at his hearing.

"Fine. But I'll have to ask McGonagall."

"Great! Thanks James!"

"Why do you want to go so much? You'll miss all your lessons that day."

"So? I've only got Divination, Care of Magical Creatures and Astronomy. Who really cares about them?"

"You took Divination and Care of Magical creatures?!"

"Yeah… I took everything actually… I take night classes on a Wednesday…" I blushed.

"You really are a nerd." He smiled again. "I've got to go; Potions will be starting in a minute. Although I reckon I could turn up half way through the lesson and Slughorn would still give Gryffindor 5 points. He seems to really like me…"

"That's only because you're a Potter!" I told him and we laughed. "I've got Arithmancy. I'll walk that way with you if you want?"

"Yeah, that would be great. I'll tell you about the evidence I've got against Malfoy."

"Awesome."

**I did say I'd try to do this one for today. And I did. In fact, I think I can probably start another one today and maybe even publish it.**

**Please keep reviewing; it gives me something to write for!**


	19. Try to Sell it

**Author's Note:**

**Another chapter done! I must have used up all my imagination for the next month! I hope you enjoy this one; quite a few people have been looking forward to Scorpius's hearing.**

_Rose's Pov:_

I waited until everybody had left the Dorm and then got up. I changed into a simple white shirt. I decided to wear a black skirt that stopped just above my knees and some black shoes with smallish heels. I brushed my red curls and pinned the front back. I decided to also put on a little make up- not enough to make it obvious, but just to hide some of the freckles.

I was so glad that McGonagall had agreed to let me go to Scorpius's hearing. She had agreed that it would be good for me to do something, even if it was going to the trial of another student. My excuse was that James was going to need support and even though Uncle Harry would be there, I think he felt comforted by the idea of me watching him from the stalls as he spoke. Of course, I had no plans to do anything of the sort.

I met James downstairs. He looked tidier than I'd ever seen him. He'd actually combed his hair and resisted the urge to cover it in gel. He was wearing a black suit that went with my outfit. We both looked very good, actually. I think we could have passed as ministry workers.

"Are you sure you want to come?"

"Of course, James. I'm not backing out now. You might need me."

"Yeah, you're right. I guess we'd better get going. We're travelling by Floo Powder from McGonagall's office."

"Awesome. Have you got everything?"

"What do I need?"

"Notes? What if you forget something important?" I asked.

"Don't worry, I have it memorised."

"So no notes?"

"Nope." And there went my brilliant plan. Back to square one. We met McGonagall and she opened the Floo network.

"Good luck Mr Potter." She said to us as we disappeared into the flames. I think I needed more luck that James did today.

Uncle Harry met us at the Ministry and showed us the way to the courtroom.

"Rose, all you have to do is watch and remain silent. Don't say anything. It's judged as a lack of respect if you speak and you're not part of the court." I nodded. How was I meant to save Scorpius if I couldn't speak?

"Who's the Judge going to be, dad?" James asked.

"Madam Bones. And don't worry, she's absolutely fine. All she wants is a fair hearing. W went to school together actually…" I didn't really care about that. I was trying desperately to figure out a plan.

"This is where I leave you." Uncle Harry told us. "Rose, you can go right in and find a seat. It doesn't matter where. James, you need to wait out here. Some Ministry officials will come and get you when you are needed."

"Where will you be, Uncle?" I asked. It would be nice to know where the one other person I could trust apart from James would be.

"I'll be escorting Scorpius on and off. When I'm not doing that, I will be at the side of the room. You should be able to see me." I nodded. Uncle Harry smiled at us, wished his son luck and left.

"I'd better go."

"Yeah. Get a good seat."

"Good luck. You'll be fine."

"It's weird. I wasn't nervous at all until I got here. Now I think I'm about to pass out."

"That's just your nerves. You'll be fine." I hugged him and then found a seat in the court room. It was a circular room with an ugly wooden chair in the middle of it, handcuffs attached to the arms and legs.

In a minute, the boy I loved would be sat right there.

"Please stand for Judge Bones." Someone announced. I stood as a mousey lady entered the room. She looked wise and kind. I decided that I could trust her.

That put my list up to three!

"Please bring in the accused." Ordered Madam Bones. Uncle Harry and another Auror heaved Scorpius into the room. I almost yelled in shock. He looked terrible He was green and his hair was filthy. Beads of sweat trickled down his face. And he was shaking.

My Uncle shoved him into the chair whilst his associate shackled him to the wooden arms and legs. When they were done, they moved to the side, just as Uncle Harry had said they would.

"You are Scorpius Vincent Malfoy, correct?"

"Yes, your honour." Scorpius mumbled. I looked around the stalls. I could see the Minister, Kinglsey Shacklebolt sitting only a few seats away from me. Across from me was Aunty Ginny and two seats down from her was a man that could only be Scorpius's father. The similarity between them was uncanny, except that Mr Malfoy had none of his son's striking good looks. He had a pointed nose and a chin. Next to him was a stunning woman who looked much younger. This was Scorpius's mum. They had the same nose. She was crying silently. I thought about how much this hearing would change their lives.

"You are the son of Draco Malfoy and Astoria Greengrass, correct?"

"Yes, your honour." Scorpius mumbled again.

"And do you know what you have been charged with?"

"Yes, your honour."

"Mr Malfoy has been charged for the use of Dark Magic and for torturing a student of Hogwarts School. How do you plea?"

"Innocent." But even I wouldn't believe him; if it wasn't for the fact I knew it hadn't been him. He didn't sell it at all.

"Are you happy to be asked questions regarding this charge?" Madam bones asked.

"Yes, your honour."

"Very well then. Has anyone got any questions for Mr Malfoy?" I had. I had so many questions that I needed to ask him. But I remembered Uncle Harry telling me to keep quiet. So I did.

**The hearing will continue from Scorpius's Point of View in the next chapter. So, did you like it? Please review! Or Favourite! Or Follow! Or all three! **


	20. Controlling My Temper

**Author's Note:**

**Firstly, I am so sorry it's been so long! I've been on holiday and had stuff to do! Then again, maybe it's good that I haven't been writing so much because when school starts again, there is no way I'll be able to write so much so quickly. **

**Secondly, sorry this is a short chapter. I wrote it quickly before I went on holiday.**

**I've just finished writing the next chapter, so I'll upload that one in a second :)**

_Scorpius's Pov:_

I looked around the room. At the dozens of people, all watching me. There were my parents; my father's face stiff and my mother's wet with tears.

"Has anyone got any questions for Mr Malfoy?" the judge asked. I looked around, daring someone to speak up. In the corner of my eye, I think someone must have raised their hand. But I was too entranced by the beautiful girl sitting in the stalls.

Rose!

She was here! If she was here, then surely everything would be alright. She would find a way to help me.

"Mr Malfoy, would you please answer the question." Madam Bones spoke up. I tore my attention from Rose.

"Sorry could you repeat the question?"

"I said, what piece of magic did you use on the victim?" I clenched my jaw and glared at the ugly man who had asked the question.

"I didn't use any magic on her! It wasn't me who tortured her! I'm innocent! I'm being framed!" I shouldn't have yelled, but I was tired of being accused of something I didn't do!

"Mr Malfoy, do not raise your voice in my courtroom."

"Sorry, your honour." I mumbled.

"Are there any further questions?" this time it was a good looking woman in her mid twenties who spoke up.

"Mr Malfoy, you claim that you are innocent? What evidence do you have to support the claim?"

"I know I didn't do it." The crowd laughed at such a poor response.

"Then who did?"

"I don't know."

"Do you mean that you did not see the torturing of a Miss Lily Luna Potter?"

"No, but I did see the culprit. Just before I helped free Lily-"

"If you know who the guilty person is then please name them so we can finish this hearing!" A stranger yelled from the crowd

"I didn't see their face. But it was a woman."

"Please describe this woman." Madam Bones ordered.

"She was tall and slim, as far as I could see. She had a cold voice and her tongue was like that of a lizard." Then the crowd began to mutter about how absurd this was. But it was what I had seen.

"We now call our witness, James Sirius Potter, to the court." _Potter_. What was he doing at my hearing? I had expected Al to be here. I thought I could count on him to give me a fair hearing. But James already hated me. What did it matter if I was sent to Azkaban? Nothing to him.

Mr Potter and the other Auror unchained me and took me from the room.

Already I knew it was hopeless. Unless Rose could magically perform a miracle. God I loved that girl. Just for turning up and showing she cared. I knew she would come round. Saying we couldn't be together. Just because we _shouldn't_ be together doesn't mean we _wouldn't_ be together.

I sat alone in a tiny box of a room, and I hoped for my sake that Rose had a plan. Because if she didn't, I was doomed.

**I know it was short, but I only had a small amount of time to write it. Review please? And please don't review saying it's too short because I am already aware of it :)**


	21. My Side of the Story

**Author's Note:**

**Thanks for not losing interest or patience I know it's been ages!**

_James's Pov:_

I stared up at the dozens of Ministry workers watching me. Dad showed me to my seat, although it was pointless. The room was filled except for a single wooden chair nailed to the tiled floor in the middle of the court. I slowly sank into my seat and swallowed. Dad gave m a reassuring smile, but all it did was increase my already alarmingly fast heartbeat. There were chains and shackles attached to the chair but they weren't used on me. Had Malfoy been tied down in front of everyone, unable to move? I felt sick thinking about it, but then I remembered why I was here. To make sure he was found guilty. What difference did it make if he was uncomfortable in the process?

"You are James Sirius Potter, correct?" Madam Bones asked me.

"Yes."

"Son of Harry James Potter and Ginevra Molly Weasley?"

"Yes."

"Very well. We shall begin. Mr Potter, can you please tell the court your side of the story?" I looked at Rose. She was a pale as I felt. She gave me a nod and looked away. I tried to speak, but found myself silenced. I couldn't get a word out.

"I-I…" Finally I managed to say something, but it simply made the court roll their eyes. They were not impressed. Madam Bones gave me a sympathetic smile.

"Mr Potter, I understand that you are very distressed at the minute, what with your sister's current condition. Let's try to make this easier. Can you think of any reason Mr Malfoy would have for harming your sister?"

"Yesterday, we had a fight." I told her.

"A fight?" She raised an eyebrow. I was vaguely aware of murmurs travelling around the room. Maybe I wasn't going to be such a disappointment after all.

"Yes. My cousin wasn't well at the time and Malfoy made a joke about her. I got angry and punched him. Next thing I knew we were having a full on fight."

"I see. However, using dark magic on your sister seems like an extreme revenge, do you not think? How exactly did the fight end?"

"My father pulled us apart. My brother got annoyed and said that I had no reason to get angry with Malfoy. So I told him why my cousin was in the Hospital Wing."

"Which cousin is this?" I looked at Rose.

"I'd rather not say. It's not very important to what happened next." Madam Bones nodded. "My brother got upset and ran off. Malfoy followed. At least, I thought he was following my brother. Only, my brother said he was missing for about an hour."

"Really? Have you any idea where he was?"

"I have my suspicions. You see, I bumped into him a little while later. He was going back to the Slytherin Common Room."

"I see. And where exactly do you think he was for that hour?"

"Well, later on that evening, I was visiting my cousin again. My brother and Malfoy came into the Hospital Wing and told me they needed help."

"Help?"

"Yes. Originally, they wanted my dad or Professor McGonagall, but neither of them were in the castle. So I agreed to go with them."

"Please, continue."

"They took me to Hagrid's Hut."

"Rubeus Hagrid?"

"Yes. When we got there the inside of his Hut was covered in human blood. I think it was my sister's."

"And was there any sign of either your sister or Hagrid?"

"No. My sister's friend told me that Lily went to visit Hagrid earlier on."

"And you believe this is connected to Mr Malfoy?"

"Yes. I think that in the hour he was missing, he attacked Hagrid and my sister. Then he hid them in the Forbidden Forest."

"That makes no sense. Why would he come asking for your help if it was him who had vandalised Hagrid's Hut?" A crowd member pointed out.

"I thought that too, at first. My brother said that it was Malfoy who suggested the two of them visit Hagrid. We think that he wanted to go back into the Forest to get rid of the evidence."

"That would be risky." I ignored that member of the court.

"My cousin came down to try and help, but we sent her back up. She wasn't well. Then I suggested going into the Forest with my brother and Malfoy to track down Hagrid. At this point I didn't know my sister was missing."

"What was Mr Malfoy's reaction?"

"He seemed a little nervous. My brother said that he was scared of the dark and he hates the Forest."

"It would make sense for him to be worried. You could have found Hagrid and your sister." Madam Bones nodded.

"Later I said we should split up. I asked Malfoy to go on his own. He agreed straight away."

"Was this strange?"

"Well, yes. As I said, he's scared of the dark, and we had just seen several red flashes nearby. I thought it was a couple of students mucking around."

"What I don't understand is why he would have hidden Hagrid's body and your sister in the Forbidden Forest, seeing as you claim that he hated the place."

"So that no one would suspect him."

"Very well. Thank you, Mr Potter. You may leave now."

I nodded and got out of my chair. My dad came over. He smiled at me with pride. I half heard Madam Bones speaking.

"The court has now heard both sides of this crime. We shall now vote. All those who conclude that the accused is guilty, please raise your hands now." I turned round. Not a single person had kept there hand down.

I'd won.

**Good ending? Was it predictable? Please review!**


	22. Reasons to Live

**Author's Note:**

**Sorry it's been a little while since I last wrote. Of course this wouldnt happen if my parents just bought me laptop! Of course, they dont see it that way -.-****Anyway, school started today so I'm not going to able to do as much as quickly as I was. Just a heads up on that :) Hope you like this chapter. Please review. I'm particuarly interested in whether people like where the story is going or not. It would be a huge help... Thanks! :)**

_Rose's Pov:_

"The court finds the accused guilty." Madam Bones confirmed and began to get out of her seat.

"Wait!" I slapped a hand over my mouth a second too late. Heads turned in my direction. I could see James staring at me in confusion. I tried to avoid his eyes and addressed Madam Bones. "I have evidence that could change the courts opinion!"

"Then why were you not chosen as a defence witness?"

"Because nobody knew my side of the story."

"Who is this?" A member of the court asked the audience. Uncle Harry muttered unwillingly.

"This is my niece, Rose Weasley." Madam Bones looked from my Uncle's reddening face to me.

"You are the cousin of James Sirius Potter?" She asked me.

"Yes, your honour. I am the cousin James talked about whilst giving his evidence."

"Then you are ill?"

"I was ill, but I am better now."

"Is this true, Mr Potter?" Madam Bones looked questioningly at my Uncle.

"Your honour, Rose had an accident. I am not aware that she has yet made a recovery." I could see that no members of the court had moved, and they were all staring at me.

"Mr Potter, could you please explain the 'accident' your niece had?" I looked at my Uncle, hoping he would see that I couldn't have him explain what had happened. I would die if anyone found out. It just wasn't a possibility. I wouldn't let it happen.

"I am afraid not, your honour. It is a delicate matter and I have been asked not to share it with anyone outside of the Weasley family."

"Very well." Madam Bones turned to me. "There is no evidence that you have recovered. Therefore, your word can not be trusted by the court and will not be heard. The accused is found guilty. This trial has come to an end." She nodded at the court and they began to leave.

I let out a sound of fury. I looked at my Uncle, sending him a cold glare. Why couldn't he just say I was better? I would have been able to save Scorpius!

But Uncle Harry didn't want to help Scorpius. He wanted Scorpius to rot in Azkaban. Which is exactly what would happen.

Madam Bones left the room, and before either James or my Uncle could get to me, I followed her. I heard James call out but ignored him.

"Madam Bones ! Madam Bones!"I yelled as I ran after her, panting for breath.

"The court is over. If you wish to make a complaint, go to my secretary."

"I have a question. How long will Scorpius be in Azkaban?"

"Mr Malfoy? I expect the remainder of his life. And several lifetimes after that. What he did was very serious."

"But that's just it! He didn't do it!" I yelled.

"Miss Weasley, you have now outstayed your welcome. Please leave me, I have important business to attend to. And you should be heading back to school." She quickened her pace, leaving me alone in a corridor.

Ah crap, I was lost.

"Rose?"

I turned around quickly.

"Uncle Percy?!"

"What are you doing here? You should be at school!"

"I had to go to Scorpius Malfoy's hearing. You know, about Lily..."

"What about Lily?"

"Haven't you heard? She's in St Mungos..."

"What?! Why haven't I been told?"

"I don't know..." I did though. Uncle Percy was often left out of the loop because he would react badly or do something rash.

"Well, why are you _here? _This is the Minister of Magic's office. He pointed to the door I was standing next to.

"Oh. I got lost. Could you help me find Uncle Harry?"

"Of course. He'll be on the seventh floor. That's where your Father and Harry work. It's also where they hold people being sentenced or on there way to Azkaban, so this Scorpius Malfoy will be there."

"Oh, right." I walked with him until we got to Auror Headquarters. I could hear Uncle Harry and dad arguing.

"How could you have just lost her, Harry? In the Ministry of Magic?! She could be miles from us!"

"I'm sorry, there was a rush and she sneaked out..."

"I tell you, when I get my hands on her I'm going to-"

"Going to do what, dad?"

"Rose?! Where have you been?" My dad looked at me in anger.

"I got lost... Uncle Percy found me."

"Thanks Percy." Dad nodded at his brother.

"Yes, well, that's quite alright. Although I want to know why I wasn't told about whatever has happened to Lily!" Dad looked at me with an annoyed expression.

"What did Rose tell you?"

"Only that she's in St Mungos! She's my niece, Ronald!" Just then, a small man with a cheeky grin poked his head around the door.

"Harry, there's been a crime in Hampstead Heath. Someone reckons they saw a Death Eater." He had a cute Irish accent.

"I'll be there in a minute. Thanks Seamus." The Auror nodded and left.

"Right, your father and I have to go Rose. Can we trust you not to go running off?"

"Yes, Uncle." I sighed half-heartedly.

"Good. And I'll be wanting to speak to you both soon. I'll be coming to the Quidditch match, so maybe I'll see you there?" Uncle Harry looked at his son.

"Yeah dad. That will be fine." James said.

"Right, Percy, could you arrange for James and Rose to get back to Hogwarts safely?" Dad asked.

"Sure. But I'll expect an explanation soon. What am I going to tell Audrey?"

"Um, Percy... Audrey already knows." Ron admitted. Uncle Percy looked like he was ready to explode, but Uncle Harry gave him a quick look and he didn't push the issue further. My father hugged me and then left the room with Harry, who gave me a patronising pat on the head.

"Right then," Uncle Percy said as soon as Uncle Harry and dad were gone. "Lets set up a Floo Network for you two."

Soon green flames were exploding through the fireplace. Uncle Percy handed us each a handful of powder.

I went first, yelling "Hogwarts" as I disappeared into green smoke. When I stepped out of the fireplace, I found myself standing in McGonagall's office.

"Miss Weasley." The Headmistress greeted me. I stepped out of the fireplace as James appeared in it. "How did it go?"

"Scorp- I mean, Mr Malfoy was found guilty. He's going to Azkaban."

"I see. That's a pity."

"You think so?" I looked curiously at her. Maybe I had an ally after all.

"Well, yes. He was very young. Too young to have been sentenced to a life in Azkaban. He's just lucky they don't have dementors as prison guards any more." She shuddered.

"Couldn't you do something? Persuade them to change their minds. Give him some other punishment?"

"Miss Weasley, the last time I saw such a case was back in the Hogwarts Battle. I don't think you understand the seriousness of what Mr Malfoy has done."

I yelled in frustration and left the room, slamming the door behind me. I'd probably regret it later, but it felt good. I tore down the corridors, shoving anyone who was unlucky enough to be in my way. I was in a mood, and the Gryffindor's at least knew to avoid me if this ever happened. It rarely did, but today I was especially angry and upset. I yanked open the portrait hall with such force I nearly ripped it from it's hinges. The Fat Lady yelled after me, but I was already inside the Common Room. As soon as I stepped inside, Freddie and Dominique swooped down onto me, grabbing me by the arms and hauling me to the centre of the room.

"What happened?" Freddie asked.

"Did he get sentenced? Is he going to Azkaban?!" Dominique almost squealed with delight.

"Just leave me alone!" I yelled at them, annoyed by their enthusiasm. They seemed shocked, but continued.

"Really, Rose. We only want to know what happened!" Dominique explained.

"Well, you can stop sticking your nose in my business and stay the hell away from me!" I screamed. I now had the attention of everyone in the Common Room. Some faces looked shocked, others annoyed. Either way, it pissed me off.

"You don't get it do you?! How hard it's been for me?"

"Rose... we understand. We're sorry..."

"Sorry? No your not! Your not sorry about anything! About the lake, and me nearly dying or about Malfoy! None of it! You just want the gossip! Well, you can leave me alone! I mean it! Just get out of my life!" I shoved Dominique and she went toppling backwards, falling and hitting her head on a chair.

"Dammit Rose!" Freddie yelled at me and tried to grab my arms. I shoved him as well, but he wasn't as easy to push as Dominique, and I ended up punching him in the face.

"What is wrong with you?!" He asked, staring incredulously at me. He helped Dominique up.

"I don't want this! I didn't ask for it! I want you all gone!" I yelled. They looked at me for a minute and then left. I turned to all the staring faces. "I mean it! All of you! Go away! Leave me alone! Go on, scram!" I screamed and they legged it up to their Dorms or into the Corridors. I noted the smirk on Roxanne's face and she swaggered up to her room.

I screamed again in frustration and sank down onto the couch, grabbing a cushion and hurling it at a window. I grabbed the other, and hugged it to my chest. All the pain from the last fortnight came crashing back down on me. Again. I'd never been so hurt. I screwed my eyes closed to stop the tears, but even then they leaked through.

"Rose?"

James' voice surprised me and my eyes opened at once. I wiped the tears from my cheeks and pulled stray bits of red hair behind my ears.

"What do you want, James?"

"Answers."

"Answers?"

"Yes."

"What answers do you want to know? A transfiguration test or something? I'm not really in the mood..."

"No. I have questions. You've been acting weird. I want to know why."

"James, I tried to kill myself! I think I'm allowed to act a little strange..."I laughed sarcastically.

"Not this strange... besides, if you didn't want everyone knowing about it, surely you'd have to act normally. And I know you're a good actress Rose. So why have you let your guard down?"

"I haven't got time for this James. I just want to be alone."

"Why? Why are you so upset?"

"You heard what McGonagall said. Scorpius will spend the rest of his life in hell, and there's nothing we can do."

"Since when did you start calling him Scorpius?" James pointed out. I nearly kicked myself in frustration.

"What does that have to do with anything?!"

"A lot, I think. For example, why do you care that he's going to Azkaban? Why does it upset you?"

"Because yesterday he was just a normal Slytherin, and today he's a prisoner in Azkaban."

"So? Have you forgotten what he did?"

"He didn't _do _anything! That's what I've been trying to tell you!"

"Bullshit. You care about him, don't you?" I bit my lip. "Don't try to deny it. I'm not stupid. I've been watching you. The way you looked at his trial. How you spoke up after the decision. And calling him Scorpius? You're in _love _with him, aren't you?"

"I... Why do you say in _love, _like it's wrong?" I asked him.

"Because I don't think that monster is capable of love."

"Don't call him a monster!"

"There! You just admitted it!"

"I did not!"

"Stop pretending, Rose!"

"I'm not!"

"I don't see why you like him. It makes you weak."

"What did you just say?!"

"Weak. That's what you are. You're weak!" Funny, I thought. That's exactly what Scorpius had said to me in my dream. _"You're weak._" It was like their places in my hearts had swapped. Scorpius was now the one I loved. Who was always there for me. Who I enjoyed spending time with. Who I admired. James was the cold hearted boy I despised, because he just didn't understand anything about anyone.

"I am not weak!"

"Yes, you are. You hated him. He drove you to suicide. But because he's attractive and popular and smart, that's reason enough to forget the first part."

"I don't get to pick who I love! My heart does that for me!"

"That's a pointless thing to say! You're heart is what makes you_ you_."

"I cant help it. I love Scorpius and I cant help it!" There. I'd said it. And it felt so good to finally get it off my chest.

"You know what, Rose? I liked you. I looked out for you because I liked you. Not because I was your cousin. Because we were friends. I admired you. Respected you. Now, I hate you." That stung more than all the pain I'd ever felt in my entire life.

"What?" I whispered. The tears had begun to form.

"You heard it. I hate you. You picked him over me."

"What?! No I didn't!"

"I wont be your friend if you pick him. I'll be your cousin. I cant help that. But I'll never be your friend."

"This doesn't have to be you or him! It can be both! I can still be your friend if I'm with him!"

"No, you cant. To be friends, I'd have to want to be friends. And quite frankly, right now that thought repulses me." And with that, he left. Without saying goodbye. Without even looking at me. I let out a moan of pain and collapsed back onto sofa. I curled up and in the moment, I watched my heart die. I saw it shrivel up and cease to exist.

James hated me.

Scorpius would never see me again.

Dad was ashamed of me.

Mum was worried about me.

Uncle Harry was disappointed with me.

Dominique and Freddie were angry with me.

Roxanne seemed amused by me.

What did I have to live for now?

**Tadaaaaa! Thoughts? **


	23. Auror Bell

**Author's Note:**

**Hope you're still enjoying the chapters, I knwo they're becoming less frequent.**

_Scorpius's Pov:_

I yawned and began stretching my arms. My eyes fought against me, trying to stay shut, but I knew that now I was awake there would be no more sleep. I looked around at the small cell I was confined in. How had I been able to get to sleep in the first place? The memories of yesterdays events must have been overcome by my need to sleep.

This was my second night in the cell. I'd almost got used to its cold floor. I pushed my memory back to the day I had first come here. A couple of masked Aurors dragging me to the room, though I made no struggle. Unlocking and pulling open the creaking door that really needed a good oil. They'd picked me up from under my arms and thrown me into the cell. I hesitantly stroked my cheek with the back of my hands and winced. Raw flesh from where it had scraped across the floor yesterday stung like mad. I would have asked for some ice for it if I'd been able to swallow my pride, but I knew that would never happen.

I thought of Rose. It was weird, that I'd fallen for her just as she became out of my reach. That was the truth of it. I would never see Rose again. It was a sad thought, but it was the truth and from past experiences I knew that the truth wasn't something to be ignored.

I thought of Al next, lying on his bed in our Dorm, staring at the empty spot where I should be now. Was he sad? I thought so. Did he think I'd done it? If he believed his brother, then no doubt he would think I was guilty. But even so, I think he would be sad. Sad to know the fate that awaited his best friend.

I shook my head from the thought. Best friend? Who was I kidding?! If Al had been my best friend then there was no way he'd have let James come to my trial. No. It had always been about whether Al would pick me over Lily, or his sister over me. It seemed he'd gone for Lily.

And Rose... What was she doing now? Sleeping? If I couldn't sleep, I doubted she could. Was she fighting for me? Or had she just forgotten about me? She'd never actually admitted her feelings for me face to face. I had only assumed. And I had simply assumed that she had come to my hearing because of the letter I wrote. But maybe I was wrong. Maybe she had gone because James had asked her to. And now she knew she was never going to see me again, she's decided to forget about me completely and move on with her life.

The part of me that knows what's right wanted to be happy for her. To be grateful that she would find someone who loved her as much as I did. I wanted to be happy that she wouldn't be held down by the thought of me for the rest of her life.

But I couldn't. I couldn't feel happy. I'm a Slytherin, and Slytherins aren't known for putting others before themselves. I felt betrayal and jealousy.

"Mr Malfoy?" I looked up to see a woman with stunning dark hair. But that wasn't what had caught my attention. What had caught my attention was the ring of keys in her hand.

"Yes?"

"Your parents are here to see you." She told me and unlocked the door, leaving the keys in the lock. She was holding her wand in front of her, clearly ready to stun me if I attacked her.

"What's your name?" I asked, trying to ignore the wand that was now inches from my face. The white light at the end blinded me.

"Bell. Auror Bell." With that she grabbed my arm and swung it round so that I was in front of her. I yelled out in pain and surprise. "Mr Malfoy. It will be easier if you don't struggle." I finally gave up.

"Where are my parents?" I asked her as we walked.

"There in a waiting room, which will be heavily guarded at all times by the way."

"Why? Don't you trust them?"

"Never trust a mother when her son is in danger." She said and walked me down the corridor. "Here we are." She gestured to a small room on my right. I could hear my parent's voices.

"Mum? Dad?" I called.

"Scorpius?" I could tell mum had been crying. I entered the room with the Auror, who locked me into a small cell with bars. On the other side sat my parents.

"It's good to see you." I said, feeling more and more awkward as every second ticked by.

"You have ten minutes in here." Auror Bell told my parents and settled herself in a corner. When she had said heavily guarded, she must have meant herself. I saw a figure move from behind the closed door. A back up team, in case something went wrong.

"Thank you for this." My dad said politely to the Auror. She scowled back.

"Don't say thank you to me. If it had been my decision, all you Malfoy's would be in cells in Azkaban." My father didn't push it further. In fact, he looked rather ashamed, like he wanted to say more but couldn't. He turned back to me.

"Scorpius, how could you do such a thing? It's given us a bad name you know. It's been all over the newspapers-"

"Draco! Don't waste the time we have to spend with our son telling him that what he did was wrong. I'm sure he knows that."

"Mum, I didn't do it."

"Scorpius, if you just admitted to it then I'm sure you'd be given less years." My mother whispered, a trail of mascara running down her cheek.

"How long have I got?"

"Six hundred and forty two years, son. I'm ashamed." Six hundred and forty two years! Once I was in there, I'd never come out.

"Dad, I haven't done anything wrong."

"See, I told you he'd say that." My mother told dad.

"Be quiet Astoria!"

"Don't tell me to be quiet, Draco! This is all your fault! The pressure of being a Malfoy was obviously too much for the boy!"

"I am still here you know!" I nearly yelled. My mother looked at me but continued the argument, leaving me sitting alone listening to their squabble.

"Ten minutes is up." Auror Bell finally said.

"What? Already? But we haven't even said anything to him yet!" Mum looked shocked.

"Maybe if you hadn't spent all the time arguing with dad, we'd have been able to talk!" I yelled.

"But-" Mum seemed to realise that what I had just said was true and shut up. I was so angry. I was going to Azkaban and all they could think of was how it would reflect on them. I'd thought they were better than that. Auror Bell took me away and I listened to my mothers sobs and my fathers angry shouts. Auror Bell didn't say anything, but locked me back up. I collapsed against the wall, sobbing.

"You'll be moved to Azkaban tonight." Was all she said. I watched her go, knowing that it was unlikely I_'_d ever see another person again.

**Please review!**


	24. The House Elves Hero

**Author's Note:**

**I feel so bad! I've completely neglected this story! I've been very busy with work and stuff. But I promise I will try to write more as quickly as possible. I'm halfway through the next chapter so hopefully it wont be very long until I publish that one too. Thanks again for sticking with the story even though it's been ages since I posted anything. Please review, it might give me the incentive to write more :) Hope you enjoy this chapter...**

_James's Pov:_

I spent all night in the Kitchens, stuffing my face with whatever the House Elves offered me. One House Elf particularly liked me, making me a four layered personalised wedding cake. It was bit weird, a single iced figure (who I assumed was meant to be me) standing in front of the alter. I laughed when I saw it.

"Is Master James amused, sir?" The House Elf croaked, looking worried.

"Er, no... sorry."

"Don't be apologising to Kreacher sir." He muttered as he walked off, leaving the wedding cake taking over the table. I took a slice to be polite and found it was actually rather nice.

"Can Kreacher get Master James another Butterbeer? Or a Firewhiskey, perhaps?" Kreacher asked when he next came round. The other House Elves nodded at me as they went about their work. I looked at the dozens of empty bottles littering my table.

"I think I've had enough, Kreacher. But thanks." The House Elf nodded and turned to leave. "Kreacher? Who is that?" I pointed to the golden statue in the middle of the kitchens. It was a House Elf with a long nose and huge flapping ears. It was wearing a tea cosy.

"That's Dobby, Master. Dobby the Great, we call him."

"Is he a saint or something? To House Elves, I mean."

"He is a hero to House Elves, Wizards and Muggles alike, Master James."

"Oh. Did you know him?"

"I did, Master James." Kreacher croaked.

"What was he like?"

"He had a squeaky little voice. He was kind and brave." Kreacher seemed entranced by the memory of this fellow house elf. "We wear clothes now because of him."

"What?" I'd never known that House Elves hadn't always worn clothes. They all wore bright knitted jumpers and odd socks.

"Master Harry helped to free him. After that Dobby wore clothes all the time. We wear them as a symbol of Elf Rights."

"Master Harry? Do you mean my dad?"

"Yes, Master James." And with that, he waddled off to help another House Elf carrying a roast turkey. It seemed I found out another secret of my father's.

I got up quietly and left, finding my way back to the Common Room without anyone seeing me. The Fat Lady didn't seem pleased to see me, annoyed that I'd woken her up.

"You Potters! You're all the same!" She muttered as she let me in. I glared at her. The Common Room was empty, except for Rose, fast asleep on the couch. I looked away from her, remembering that I was still angry. Silently I walked past her, resisting the urge to cover her in a blanket to keep her warm. We weren't friends any more. She'd made that clear. She'd rather love a boy locked in Azkaban than be my friend.

"James?"

"Freddie? What are you doing up?" I'd just opened the door of my dorm.

"Waiting for you of course. I was getting worried. It's late..."

"Yeah I know. I'm sorry, I just needed to clear my head."

"I understand. It's about Lily, right?" I looked up at him.

"What?"

"You're worried about Lily. I totally understand. You haven't been given time to cope yet. It was unfair of McGonagall to make you go to that hearing."

"Lily? Why would I be worried about Lily?"

"James? Are you alright? Lily's in St Mungos... I thought you'd be worried. Is that not it? Is something else bothering you?" Of course! Lily had been in St Mungos for days, and I hadn't given her a thought. How selfish was I? Rose didn't matter compared to my sister.

"Sorry, Freddie. I'm just not really with it at the moment. It just doesn't seem real."

"Denial. That's a good sign. You'll come to terms with it soon." I rolled my eyes. "Do you want to go and visit her this weekend?"

"With you?"

"Yeah. And the others. If they want to come."

"Isn't that the Hogsmeade weekend though?" I asked.

"Yeah, well... I've been there so many times it doesn't matter. And we'll just have to do extra Quidditch Practice some other time."

"Really? Freddie, thanks. I really need to see her."

"I'd feel exactly the same if it was Roxanne."

"I guess." I was now dressed and in bed. We lay in silence for a couple of minutes.

"Rose has gone crazy." Freddie finally said, as though he had been deliberating whether or not to mention it.

"Yeah... well, I don't care."

"What? James? You and Rose have always been so close. She admires you, James. I can tell. She needs you."

"Well, she doesn't know it, because she doesn't want anything to do with me."

"Did she say that?" Had she said that? Not those exact words, but it had been clear that that was what she wanted to tell me.

"Close enough. Does it matter?" Freddie didn't reply and soon I was drifting off into an empty sleep worse than any nightmare.

**Hope you enjoyed it... The next chapter will be from Albus's point of view. Like I said, please review. It makes me feel appreciated :D**


	25. At Least I Got Some Sleep

**Author's Note:**

**Thank you to everyone who's reviewed or bothered reading this. I've had lots of reviews asking for moe chapters so I've written three more :) I hope you enjoy it and please review. So... here you are...**

_Albus's Pov:_

I looked at the clock next to my head. It was only half one in the morning. I was never going to get to sleep, so why try? I heaved myself out of bed and took a shower before pulling on some trackies and a loose t shirt.

I tore down the stairs and into the Slytherin Common Room. As much as I liked being in Slytherin, the Common Room was one thing I couldn't stand. The eerie green light gave the place a sinister atmosphere and the windows revealed a never-ending turquoise lake. At first this had seemed really cool, but soon I had realised that no creature ever came near enough to the castle to be seen from the Common Room. One thing I really missed was watching the sun rise and set. Then there was the furniture. Everything was a jade green, made of silk. It had that sexy look that tempted many Slytherins to make out on it just because it was there. I missed the lumpy armchair from home, with half the springs broken and the cushion with hardly any of the original stuffing. Those things meant something to me, but this Common Room didn't. Why would it? We didn't have a fireplace so it was always cold and the place was so huge it always looked empty. It was gloomy and dull.

"Al!" Came a squealing voice. I looked over to a sofa and found Alex beaming at me. I had to do a double take to realised she was in her underwear.

"Oh, hey Alex..."

"I haven't seen you in forever!"

"We talked yesterday..." I was trying to keep my eyes on her face, but my eyes kept wandering...

"Oh... Well, it feels like forever." Does it?

"What do you want?"

"Do I have to have a reason to speak to my boyfriend?" Shit. Had I not dumped her yet ? I could have sworn I had... or was I just remembering the last one...?

"Look Alex..." She was off the sofa now, flashing her flirty smile at me. She swaggered up to me and pulled me down onto the sofa before I even knew what was happening. She tugged at my shirt, pulling our bodies closer. Our mouths found each other, though part of me was screaming to stop. In between the kisses, Alex whispered in my ear.

"I've been waiting down here for an hour..." My brain started tuning out her voice. Then suddenly I became aware that my t shirt was being pulled up and her hands were moving up and down as if she was rubbing sun cream on me. I grabbed her hand and pulled it off. She just giggled and wriggled out from under my weight.

"Nadine's ill, so her room's empty..." Nadine was the Head Girl. She stayed in her own room like Max, the Head Boy.

"What?"

"I've got it all prepared. I even asked her if it was alright. She said yes! Can you believe it? She's so nice..."

"Wait... Alex, what are you on about?"

"Al, don't be such an idiot..." My hand in hers, she led me to the Head girl's room. My eyes widened at the sight of the double bed. Alex let go of my hand and jumped onto the double bed.

"Alex... I really don't think this is a good idea..."

"Shhh!" She whispered seductively and got up again. She started kissing me again, and I guess I gave in. She hauled me down onto the bed, her hands grabbing at me. She held me down on top of her so I couldn't escape. But it wasn't necessary. I wasn't going anywhere.

She pulled my top off completely this time and I didn't struggle. Did I want to fight it? I was so tired I didn't really care. I just let my hands roam and soon we were both naked...

"Ahhhhhhh!"The scream pulled me from my sleep. I turned my head to see Nadine staring at me, her eyes wide with shock. "What the- what..."

I was about to ask what the hell she was doing in the boys dorm when the events from early this morning played back in my head.

"Shit..." Was all I said as I swivelled my head to see a naked Alex sound asleep.

"Al? What the hell is going on?!"

"I- I don't actually know..."

"Would you like to _try _to explain?" She hissed as she slammed the door shut. I made sure I was completely covered by the thin white sheet.

"Alex said you were ill..."

"Yeah I was! Madam Pomfrey gave me an antidote though..."

"Oh... well I'm glad you're better/..."

"I think I need something stronger right now..."

"Right. Sorry about this... Alex said you had given her the green light..."

"Oh did she now? Well, Al, I'll have you know I said nothing of the sort."

"Ah, shit. I'm really sorry Nadine..."

"I bet you are!" She sighed. "It's not entirely your fault. Alex lied to you... something I'm not particularly surprised about. Why you're dating her I don't know..."

"Actually I thought I'd dumped her..."

"And yet you end up in bed with her... The powers of that girl." She gave a small chuckle of admiration. I sighed in relief. This was why she was Head Girl. "Fine. I will give you two minutes to wake up your girlfriend, put on some clothes and get the hell out of here! Then I'm going to go take a shower. When I get out of the shower, I expect the bed stripped and all signs of the pair of you gone. Deal?"

"You're the best Nadine!" I smiled at her and almost got out of bed to hug her before I remembered I was stark naked.

"Might want to put some clothes on before you do that... And hurry, lessons start in half an hour. You've missed breakfast..." I cursed under my breath and thanked Nadine again.

"yeah well, I'm not doing it to get you out of trouble." She said and turned to leave. As she closed the door, she turned around and winked at me.

_Great._

"Alex! Wake up!"

"Al? What's wrong?"

"You bitch! You lied to me!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Nadine just came in. She seemed surprised to see us." Alex's face went red. She was busted.

"I..." She grinned sheepishly. "It was fun though, right?" She giggled. I hissed in frustration and got dressed, my back turned to Alex.


	26. Gossip

**Author's Note:**

**Next chapter done! I think it's reaching the end. I'm hoping to finish it within the week, maybe a little longer. I'd quite like to do a Marauders Era fanfic but I dotn wantt o start it until this one is finished because I'll end up neglecting one of them. Thank you for all your support! This is the furthest I've ever got with a story, and it wouldnt have happened without your views and comments :)**

_Rose's Pov:_

It was weird sitting at the other end of the Great Hall to James at breakfast. Normally we would chat and laugh at Freddie as he rushed through his forgotten homework. But today, as I had been about to sit down next to him, he gave me such a cold look that I just kept going, eventually sitting next to Roxanne.

"Hey, Roxanne." She grunted a response and continued eating. "What have you got first?"

"Transfiguration."

"Oh, awesome. I've got Herbology..." She grunted again. We sat in silence for some minutes as I picked at my breakfast.

"So, you had an argument with Freddie, Dominique, James and basically every Gryffindor at Hogwarts yesterday... I don't think even I've accomplished that."

"Yeah... I'm a bitch, right?"

"Right. I have taught you well, young one." She laughed. I didn't. "Dominique was pretty pissed."

"I know... Was Freddie?"

"He was more understanding... Annoying sentimental brother..."

"Wait, how did you know I fought with James?"

"Er, because I was listening."

"What?! That was private Roxanne!"

"Well, duh! Otherwise I wouldn't have needed to hide under the sofa. It was uncomfortable, you know."

"What did you hear?"

"Everything." She said with a satisfied smile. "So... you and Malfoy eh?"

"Shhhh! Have you got any idea what would happen if people knew?"

"Yep. Which is exactly why I told over half the school this morning." I stared at her in shock and then round the Great Hall. Sure enough, many people were glancing my way and whispering.

"You bitch!" I yelled at her and slapped her around the face. Then I stood, flustered, waiting for her to react, aware that everyone, including the teachers were watching. But Roxanne didn't fight back or yell at me. Instead she simply applauded.

"Impressive, Rose. That almost hurt." The Hall laughed and I felt my cheeks growing red as I legged it out of the hall, tears dampening my face.

That day was possibly the worst I lived through, which is saying a lot when you consider the previous week. I found myself without a partner in Herbology. Reyna, a 6th year Hufflepuff who always went with me, chose instead to go with Michael Pond, your typical nerd. He had slimy hair and a forever spewing nose. He was one of those people who could make you gag with one look. Luckily we were revising everything we'd done previously throughout the school and today we were studying mandrakes which meant everyone had to wear earmuffs. This blocked out the whispers of others and the odd word which was often my name. It didn't stop them talking though. They couldn't hear each other but they still tried to gossip or bitch about me. Or both.

Charms was worse. I was sat next to Chelsea Zabini, who gave me scathing looks as I sat down.

"So, Weasley. Decided stealing people's boyfriends makes you cool? Well it doesn't. It makes you a _slut_." I turned to face her.

"What, like you?"

"Excuse me? What did you just call me?!"

"You heard. I called you a slut."

"How dare you!"

"Erm, you called me a slut first. Therefore I am allowed to retaliate." She opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish before she eventually gave up trying to come up with another insult. I got on with my work, writing out the terminology for household spells.

"Well I bet you didn't sleep with him..." She hissed after ten minutes. My fists clenched and I bit the inside of my cheek. "Thought not. I'm not surprised though. I bet you're still a virgin!" She gave a horrible sounding cackle. Professor Flitwick turned his head from the black board to see where the sound had come from and incidentally fell off the stool he was standing on. The class roared with laughter. He picked himself up and brushed down his robes.

"Gosh, Rose! You shouldn't have made that horrid sound, Professor Flitwick could have died!" Zabini exclaimed. Professor Flitwick glared at me.

"Miss Weasley, please see me after the lesson is over so we can arrange your detention." I groaned and snarled at Zabini, who laughed victoriously.

"Why don't you just back off, Chelsea?!"

"Why should I? You're on my territory, not the other way around."

"Scorpius is not your territory!"

"He is too!"

"Is not! He broke up with you!"

"What? How do you know that?!"

"Because you obviously wouldn't have broken up with _him_ unless you'd found a 'hotter' guy. And seeing as your single..."

"Bitch. He only ended it because of you!"

"Really?"

"He only did it because I was laughing at you and he told me to stop! He feels sorry for you!" She laughed again and I knew I was about to explode.

"You're a real bitch, you know!"

"Oh, I know." I stood up and walked out of the class, ignoring Flitwick's protests.

**Liked it? Review :D**


	27. Leaving

**Author's Note:**

**This one's a little different in that it's from Rose's Pov again and normally I would have switched characters. I decided that this chapter would work best from her point of view. Do you agree? Read and tell me please!**

_Rose's Pov:_

That was it. I was leaving. I couldn't take it any more. I should have been able to, what with all the bullying. But this was different. This was more personal. I raced up to my room and heaved my suitcase from under my bed. I rummaged through it until I found the strappy black top and thick leggings I had used in a Muggle Ballet class (I was rubbish.) I tore off my uniform and pulled the top over my head. The leggings were thick, and looked more like jeans, but I didn't care. Just as long as they were black. Once dressed, I went into the bathroom and locked the door. I stared at myself in the full sized mirror stained with condensation looked good. Sleek, sexy. The black went well with my fiery hair. But that didn't matter. What mattered was that it was black. I brushed through my hair to collect my thoughts and added some make up (Dominique had bought it for me for my last birthday. I hadn't touched the stuff.) I yanked out the mascara and eye-liner and changed my eyes completely. I added some dark red lipstick and I was unrecognisable. Good. That's what I wanted. I pulled on my leather jacket and zipped it so it covered my neck. Then I pulled on my new military boots and started packing my rucksack.

"What are you doing?"

"James?!" I spun around.

"What do you look like?" He chuckled.

"How the hell did you get in here? Boys cant climb the stairs!"

"I'm a girl?"

"Not good enough."

"I'm spider man?"

"Still not good enough."

"Fine. I bewitched the stairs."

"Really? That's actually pretty smart."

"Well cheers." I smiled.

"Wait? Aren't you still mad at me?"

"Are you still mad at me?"

"I wasn't mad at you!"

"Oh really?"

"Well... I guess I was... But only because you made me pick when I didn't need to!"

"Yeah, well... I've been thinking. Freddie said something yesterday and... I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I did and I regret it now. I want us to be friends again and forget that this ever happened."

"but I cant, James. I cant forget. I need Scorpius. I really do. Which is why I'm doing this."

"Doing what?"

"You haven't guessed?"  
"Nope."

"I'm leaving. Running away."

"What? Rose, don't be stupid."

"Don't ever call me stupid, James! I've sacrificed to much to be clever to have it taken from me."

"But that's what this is, Rose. Stupid. Where would you go? Home? You'd get sent straight back. You think your mum would just let you miss school. She have a heart attack. And I bet she'll be pissed about your outburst this morning. You can bet Roxanne told her. Or someone in our family."

"Of course I'm not going home. I'm going to Azkaban."  
"Sorry? Did I mishear you because I thought you said Azkaban? As in, the most guarded prison of all time. The prison filled with the worst criminals in the world."

"And Scorpius."

"He fits the category just as well as the others."

"no, James. He didn't do it. I saw who did it. It wasn't him."

"Bullshit, Rose."

"It's not1"

"You don't know what its like, Rose. Its not Hugo in St Mungos."

"You think I don't care about Lily? I do, James! I'm going to catch who did that to her!"

"They've already got him, Rose! Stop kidding yourself! You know what? When Freddie asked how Lily was, it took me about a minute to remember she was in St Mungos. And do you know why?" I shook my head. "Because I was too busy worrying about you." A tear slid down my cheek. I hadn't even realised I was crying.

"James. Let me do this."

"I cant."

"Yes! You can, because you must! Don't you want to get revenge?"

"I have! Scorpius is gone! He's never coming back!"

"But it wasn't him! It was a woman! Scorpius helped Lily escape!"

"Then why did she tell us it was him?"

"She was obviously under some kind of spell. Ever heard of the Imperius Curse? I wouldn't be surprised if Lily was still under it."

"That's crap. No one could hold a spell for that long."

"No one we know. But I didn't know this woman. I recognised the voice, I think."

"Rose. Please stop."  
"No James! Do you trust me?"

"Of course, Rose. But I don't believe you."

"I wasn't asking you to. I was asking you to trust me. If you trust me, you'll let me go."

"No!"

"Even if I get nothing out of it, what have I got to lose?"

"You're education! McGonagall will never let you back!"

"And? I got full marks on my O. !"

"That's not enough!"

"Yes it is! Let me go!"

"You're not going on your own!"

"Then come with me..."

**Will he? Review! **


	28. Making a Fool Out of Myself

**Author's Note:**

**So this is the chapter that essentially decides which way this story is going to go. Am I happy with the couse it's taken? i'm not sure... I guess, although it's ended up a hell of a lot longer than I imagined! please review? Many thanks :D**

_James's Pov:_

"What?" I asked. Surely I had heard her wrong.

"Come with me."

"You're joking right?"

"Do you see me smiling?"

"No but... you cant honestly think I'd go with you." She winced. Had that been to harsh? "I don't mean I don't want to go with _you._ I just don't want to go. I can't go. I have my exams this year. And Quidditch. Have you got any idea how many practices I have missed because of all this? And the match is in three days!"

"Are you trying to tell me Quidditch is more important than your sister? Than me?"

"What? No! I'm not Freddie!"

"Then why won't you come with me?"

"I wont sacrifice everything I've got for Scorpius."

"It wont be for Scorpius. It will be for me!" She cried out.

"Look Rose..." She slammed a hand over my mouth and looked me squarely in the eyes.

"I don't want to hear an excuse, James. I only want to know why I'm not important enough." I yanked her hand away.

"You are important, Rose! I'd do anything for you-"Damn. I'd fallen into my own trap.

"Then run away with me..." I looked deep into her eyes and sighed in defeat. I knew I'd lost.

"Fine. I'll come. You'll need someone with you." She squealed and hugged me. "But what will people think when they find out we've run off together? They'll think we're dating or something crazy like that!"

"Who cares?"

"Our parents? Our cousins? Al?"

"I don't give a shit what Albus thinks. Now go and get ready before you change your mind." I sighed and turned to leave. "Thanks, James. I know what you're sacrificing. I understand."

"No, you don't." I said under my breath as I closed the door behind me.

"Ahhh! A boy! In the girls dorm! A boy!" Lizzie Greenwood, a second year, screamed.

"Shut up, Lizzie." I growled and legged it to my dorm. Luckily the guys were studying in the library for a change, so I didn't have to worry about being caught. Ten minutes later I was wearing my plain black jeans, t shirt and hoodie. I grabbed my wand and walked out, refusing to look back at the room that had shared so many memories with me.

"Ready?" I jumped as Rose appeared at my side.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"Good. We leave in two hours."

"What?! Why did I get ready now?"

"Because we need to sort a few things out first." She walked off, going down the stairs and through the Common Room with confidence. She opened the Portrait Hole and went through. I stood there, transfixed. A couple of seconds later, her head reappeared. "Coming?" She winked at me and was gone again. I ran after her.

"Rose?"

"Hurry up!" I followed her voice and found her on the stairs. She was peering over the edge. "We're going to have to be quick. No one can see us!"

"Haven't you forgotten something? The portraits?" I whispered in her ear.

"Leave that to me." She whispered back. Then she yelled, her voice echoing. "Oi! You lot!" The portraits looked up at her. "Sir Cadogan's just challenged St Martin. And he accepted. Fight in thirty seconds! Don't want to miss it!" The portraits burst into conversation as they ran through the different sized frames. "Works every time."She grabbed my hand and pulled me down the first flight before I could even realise that she'd said _every tim_e_, _meaning she'd done it before_._ "Quickly!" We avoided the trick steps and soon we were in the dungeons.

"What are we doing here?"

"We need your brothers cloak."

"What?"

"How else will we get out unseen with the Hufflepuff's practising Quidditch?!"

"I guess..."

"Let's go!" She lead me through the corridors, occasionally stopping to listen out for any patrolling teachers. Finally we arrived in the dungeons.

"How do we get in?" I asked, praying for a simple answer.

"I don't know." Well, it was simple.

"You don't know?!"

"Be quiet! I'm trying to think!" She was staring at the lock. "It needs a password."

"I could have told you that. Al accidentally told me what it was during Christmas break in his first year. When he realised he burst into tears. I had to promise to 'forget'."

"Can you keep your voice down? I'm trying to think- Someone's coming!"

"Through here!" I pointed to the door that hid the staircase leading off to Slughorn's office. "_Alohomor_a!" The key turned from the other side and we stumbled inside, closing it behind us but leaving a fraction of light leaking through. "It's Chang!" I whispered in her ear. She nodded. Of course she knew! He was Al's friend!

"Will Albus be in the Common Room?"

"No, I'm sure he mentioned something about tutoring a third year. Shouldn't be back for ages. Should we wait for him?"

"No! Albus cannot know!"

"Then what do we do?"

"I have an idea..." I looked at her inquisitively, and she simply grinned before pushing me through the door so I knocked into Chang as he passed.

"Oi! Look where your going- Potter? What the hell are you doing down here?"

"I was just... erm... I looked behind me at Rose. She ushered with her hands. Time for a little improvisation, I thought. "I was looking for you, actually."

"Me? Why do you want to see me?"

"I need help..."

"We all know that Potter! You and your nerdy cousin."

"I didn't mean that... I need help with my Potions essay. I'm really quite bad at Potions, but I heard you were really good! I'll pay you..." Why, oh why did I involve money?! Never mind, I'd just 'borrow' some of Freddie's.

"I'm not even taking Potions, dumb ass."

"Oh? Really? Well, I bet you're really good anyway."

"I got a P."

"Oh... that's not so bad... I really would like _some help here please!_" I heard the stifled giggle of my cousin. I was going to kill her.

"Whatever, Potter." He started walking away.

"Wait! Chang! I mean it! Don't you walk off! You'll regret it!" He stopped, his back turned to me. "Ha! Yeah, that's what I thought. Scared of me are you? Worried that your no match for me? Well, you should be! I'll show you-"

"James, you can stop acting a totally idiot know. Its under control." Rose laughed as she exposed herself.

"Really?"

"Yes." She muttered under her breath and Chang turned back to face us.

"What have you done to him?" I asked in shock. His face was completely lifeless, a stone statue with no emotions.

"I had to do it."

"Do what?"

"The Imperius Curse. I put it on him. Now he can get the cloak."

"You did WHAT?! That's illegal!"

"I know! What choice did I have?"

"Oh, I see what's going on here. You've finally realised that Malfoy will never get out of Azkaban so instead your trying to join him there by using every piece of illegal magic you can! Where did you even learn that stuff?"

"The library."

"That's your answer to everything!" She chuckled and then muttered under her breath. Chang nodded before turning around and going up to the door.

"Fork Tongue." He murmured and the door swung open.

"Fork Tongue? That's the password? Freddie will pee himself when I tell him!"

"You wont be telling him anything!"

"Yeah, yeah..." Chang reappeared with the cloak.

"Now you erase his memory."

"What? Why me?"

"Memory charms are my downfall." Rose admitted. I laughed.

"Rose? A downfall? I'd never have believed it!"

"Shut up and get on with it! I'll keep watch." I shook my head and focused, pointing my wand in between Chang's eyes.

"_Obliviate._" His eyes went unfocused and he collapsed, falling back onto the cold stone floor.

"Done?"

"Yeah. He shouldn't be able to remember any of this."

"Good. Now help me stuff him in here." She grabbed his ankles and started dragging the Slytherin's ankles towards Slughorn's staircase. I shook my head in disbelief. Since when had my cousin been able to lift a six foot Slytherin? "Are you going to help me or not?"

"Yeah, sure. Sorry."

"Now we go to the Store Cupboard." She told me when we'd finished.

"The store Cupboard? Why?"

"I need something from there."

"What? Nothing dangerous, I hope."

"Why would you say that, James? Do you really think so low of me?" She fluttered her eyelids in innocence but I wasn't fooled.

"We are so going to be caught."

"No we're not!"

"Oh yeah? Filch makes sure someone is patrolling that corridor at all times!"

"Use your brains, James. They wont see us."

"Oh yeah? Hows that?"

"because e have this now." She held up the cloak. Oh yeah, the cloak...

"Fine. Come on." I pulled the Cloak from her hands and draped it over our bodies. "Has it worked?"

"I don't think there's any way to tell. We just have to get on with it."

"You're right. Okay, we cant talk now. I can hear some Slytherin's heading this way."Just then, Zabini appeared with Smith, Al's girlfriend.

"it was amazing! Easily the best I've ever had!"

"Yeah, shame he's ignoring you now." Zabini shot back sarcastically.

"he'll come round eventually. He enjoyed it."

"But you lied to him."

"Like you've never done that to a guy, Chelsea."

"Didn't say I hadn't. I'm just saying that's why he's ignoring you."

"but you know Al. He cant stay mad at me forever."

"Cant he? You basically raped him."

"What? No I didn't!"

"Ok fine, not quite rape... more like... sex without the important details highlighted."

"Well, don't try to tell me you never liked to Scorpius!"

"really Alex? That topic is so embarrassing."

"well, you're really popular now..." Zabini gave Smith a look. "I mean, you always were but now your the centre of attention."

"I was the centre of Scorpius's attention before red hair turned up!" I felt Rose tense. We were directly in front of them now and I had heard more of their conversation than I wanted to. "At least he was good in bed... that's something red head will never experience." They both giggled as the went past us.

"_Petrificus Totalus!" _Rose yelled. Both Slytherin girls stiffened and fell to the floor like statues, which is exactly what they had become.

"What the hell did you do that for, Rose? I thought we were trying to be inconspicuous!"

"I'm sorry! I just couldn't handle it any-more! Them talking about Albus like that-"

"I thought you didn't care about him/." I pointed out.

"i don't! I'm revolted that he would sleep with _that." _she pointed to Smith.

"I know."

"And when they started talking about Scorpius and me..."

"I get it. Just, try not to lose your temper again. It will make things a lot easier." She laughed.

"At least they didn't see who it was."

"Are you kidding me? They know your voice. I'm sure they'll be screaming your name the moment they're freed from your spell."

"Which wont be for some time."

"Right. Store Cupboard. Let's get going."

"It's surprising how a much a couple of Slytherins can get you sidetracked." She whispered as we continued down the corridor, occasionally lokoing back at the two 6th Years lying on the floor. From the angle we were at, you could see right up Zabini's skirt. Then again, you could see up her skirt from any angle...

**Just added the last bit... Thoughts? Decided to give you a nice long chapter (or longer than some previous ones anyway.) Do you think the story has gone on too long now? Should I just break Scorpius out already instead of putting in stupid pointless chapters that have nothing to do with the storyline? Please review and BE HONEST! I take no offence, everyone is entitled to their own opinon :D**


	29. The Guard of the Potions Store Cupboard

**Author's Note:**

**God, I feel so bad! It's been such a long time since I last posted, I'll be surprised if anyone still remembers the plot! I'll try writing more but I can't promise anything. Sadly, I have a life out of :( Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter. Yet another old character is brought into the storyline in this one. :D**

**Please review. I don'tthink you can realise what it means unless you too have posted stories on here. It makes my day :D**

_Rose's Pov:_

I'd never felt so alive. Moving throughout the school like James Bond- some Muggle spy my mum was always telling me about. Trying not to be seen or heard by anyone else in the school. Luckily, it seemed we'd picked a day where most people were either in the library or their common rooms studying. McGonagall had today told us that next week we would be doing practical exams on everything we'd learnt throughout Hogwarts. This had left people in a panic and I had never seen the school study so hard.

"What do we need from the Potions Cupboard anyway?" James whispered as we turned into yet another empty corridor.

"You'll see. I think we can take off the cloak now. No one is going to be around here. It must be getting on for dinner time." James hauled the cloak off our bodies which allowed us to get there more quickly.

"_Alohomora_!" James enchanted, but the door refused to budge. "It hasn't worked!"

"Well, you didn't expect it to be that easy, did you?" James scowled.

"Do you have a plan then?!"

"Actually yes, I do." I moved over to the portrait next to the door, and sure enough, there he was. "Professor? Professor?"

"Who is he?" James asked, coming up behind me,,

"Severus Snape. He used to be Potions Master."

"He's the guy Al's named after, right?"

"Right."

"But he was Headmaster... what's he doing here?"

"I heard from Professor Longbottom that he wanted another portrait set up outside here to stop people stealing. Apparently he didn't think Slughorn was adequate at doing this job."

"Why did he think people would steal from here? Most of this stuff is in the dungeons anyway."

"Well, I asked my dad that. He said that when Snape was alive, he accused our parents of stealing from it. Turns out it was a house elf."

"I am awake, you know." A mellow voice came from behind me.

"Sorry!" I turned back to face the portrait of the grumpy, sad looking man. "Professor Snape, we need to get into the Store Cupboard."" He laughed.

"Weasley Offspring, you think I will simply grant you permission? You should be so lucky..."

"Hey! We need to get in there!" James said from behind me.

"Oh yes? And why, Potter, do you need to gain entry to my personal store cupboard?" His voice went all cold when he said James' name. Almost as though he was holding back tears.

"Firstly... it's not yours... you're dead. And we need to because... because..."

"Hasn't Weasley told you?"

"Professor Snape, just let us in!" I ordered, worried about what he was about to say. His eyes narrowed.

"Your mother is Granger, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Any child of that Muggle Born should be able to answer me any Potions question I ask. If you get it right, I may allow you to enter. If not, then you will never be able to set foot in this part of the castle again."

"You can't do that!" James said.

"I think you'll find that as a loyal Headmaster of this school, I can."

"James, let me deal with this." I told my cousin, briefly looking his way over my shoulder. I noticed that his face had gone slightly red, a sign that he was angry.

"Fine, but hurry up or we'll be caught."

"I'm getting there!" I said back. "Fine, Professor. What's your question?"

"Which particular potion would be made if one ingredient was Armadillo Bile?" I sighed in relief. It was such a simple question.

"A wit-sharpening Potion." I smirked, pleased to have made a fool of the dead headmaster.

"Very good, Weasley. You may enter." The door suddenly swung open, and I ran in, afraid he would close it at any moment.

"Rose? Do you need any help?"

"No, James. You just stay outside and keep watch. I know what I'm looking for."

"Well would you kindly like to share it with me?"

"Not now James!"

"Why not?"

"This isn't the place!" I tried hinting that if Snape heard he would most likely tell one of the Professors and hat might give them some clue as to what we were about to do.

Finally I found the small crystal bottle hiding in between a small cauldron and a jar full of Gillyweed. I grabbed it and hastily shoved it into the top of my rucksack, wrapping it in a jumper so it wouldn't smash. "Got it!" I yelled as I left the Store Cupboard. James seemed relieved and together we ran down the corridor, heading for the small door at the side of the castle.

And I swear, in the corner of my eye, I saw Snape smirk at me.

**Yay! Snape! So, did you enjoy it? Maybe you have some questions about the plot? Or maybe you just want to give your opinion on this fanfic. Either way, please review! It makes me write faster! ;D**


	30. The Woman at the Whomping Willow

**Author's Note:**

**This is a shorter chapter I literally just wrote. I would have written more but I've got a lot of homework to do. Anyway, keep your reviews coming in, it's really awesome and I love it! Thanks for sticking by me. Enjoy the chapter, though it is small. **

_James's Pov:_

"We did it! We made it out!" Rose exclaimed, sounding as surprised as I felt.

"Don't sound so amazed! It makes me wonder whether you planned this or not..." She just laughed at the comment.

"Of course I planned it. I just didn't know if it would work! Now come on, let's get out of here before we get noticed." I followed her, aware that the Grounds seemed to be being swallowed in darkness. Night was coming. We passed Hagrid's Hut. It still pained me to think of the Care of Magical Creatures Professor. Maybe Rose was right. After all, could Scorpius really have killed him?

"Let's get out of here, I don't like the atmosphere. And it's cold."

"Stop whining! We're almost there!" By this point, I was following a shadowed figure that I assumed was Rose.

"Almost where?"

"The Whomping Willow."

"Sorry?"

"The Whomping Willow, James. Not scared are you?" I could hear the grin in her voice.

"No! I'm just surprised. Why do we need to go there?"

"To get to the tunnel, stupid!"

"We're going to the Shrieking Shack?!" Now I was scared.

"It's not haunted James."

"That's what you say."

"That's what I know."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because it was Teddy's dad, that's why. He was a werewolf, remember?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean it was him."

"It was him James. You're just scaring yourself! Ah, here we are." We had arrived. The Willow stood, still and silent. Rose now whispered. "Ok, we've got to be really quiet James. Try and get to the hole without it noticing us. I'll go first." I watched her slowly sneak up to the tree. Then I heard a noise coming from behind me. I spun around and as I did so lost my balance and fell.

"James!" Rose yelled, but it was too late. She was already pushing me down against the grass. "James! The Whomping Willow!" Rose yelled. I turned my head from the woman who was slowly tightening her grasp on my throat and looked over at the tree. Sure enough, it had woken. I turned back to the woman and tried to pull her hands from me. She was stronger than I thought humanly possible. I heard Rose in the background, trying hastily to get to me without getting hit by the Willow.

"Rose... Your wand..." I choked, gasping for air. Rose understood and grabbed her and from my pocket. The woman lifted her head, dark silky hair falling in my face. She was ready to attack Rose if she tried cursing. But that hadn't been what Rose had in mind. Instead of lifting her wand, she ran full on at the woman and rammed into her. Te woman was so taken back that she didn't fight. I pulled myself shakily to my feet as I watched my cousin fight. My fingers wavering in the air, I pulled out my own wand.

"_Stupefy!_" I yelled and the spell he=it her straight in the chest. She moaned and let go of Rose, who ran back to me. We watched the woman get to her feet and disapparate.

"Who...who?" Then the world collapsed around me.

**I did say it was short. Hopefully the next one will be a lot longer. I do hope you are still enjoying the story. Maybe tell me your thoughts? I really do need to hear them if I want to make this the best it can be. So, I guess what I'm saying is thanks for the support, and keep doing it because you are awesome! :D**


	31. Saying Sorry

**Author's Note:**

**Well, I've got a bit of a treat for you today. Since I felt really bad about abandoning the story for a couple of weeks, I've written another three chapters. I'm proof reading them now, so they should be up within a couple of hours. Enjoy :D**

_James's Pov:_

I heard myself moan as I came round. My hand immediately came to my head, cushioning what seemed to be a rather gigantic lump.

"What happened?" I managed to ask through the groans.

"You fainted." I looked up to find a dishevelled Rose sat with her back to the wall. I lifted my head from the dusty cushion resting on the floor.

"Me? Faint? No way. That did not happen!"

"Alright, it was more a knocking out..."

"That sounds about right. But I've never felt this bad after getting knocked out..."

"You've been knocked out before?" Rose asked curiously.

"I am a Beater in the Quidditch Team, Rose. It's not all flying around on brooms!"

"I guess..."

"So how did I get knocked out?"

"The Whomping Willow hit you in the back of the head. I thought you were dead. You scared me."

"Sorry..." I said sheepishly. "But I don't understand- who was that woman?"

"The woman who killed Hagrid. The woman who tortured your sister."

"That was _her_? Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I didn't really get the chance."

"Oh, right. Yeah. Who is she?"

"I don't know. But I will soon." I raised my eyebrows questioningly, but she didn't press the subject any more. "It's late though. You've been out of it for two hours."

"Two hours?! That means it's like midnight!"

"Only eleven, actually."

"Close enough... How did I get in here?"

"I dragged you down the hole. After the woman disapparated, the Willow hit you. It was hard dragging you and watching out for the branches. I'm afraid you might have got a few more bruises." She smiled apologetically.

"Well, I'm alive because of you."

"Hardly. She didn't want to kill you."

"Which is why she had her hands round my neck?"

"It was me she was after. You're just a complication."

"Then why did she go after me?"

"I don't know, but her body language suggested she hadn't been expecting you there."

"Did you see her face?"

"No. You?"

"Only one thing. She has a jagged scar that goes through her lip."

"A scar? Well, now at least we know something about her."

"Yes, but we should be worried. How did she know what we were doing? Where we were going?"

"She's been following me, I think. I sometimes feel that there is someone watching me."

"It makes sense. I wonder how she's getting around school..."

"That's easy. A really powerful disillusion charm." We sat in silence for a couple of minutes. I finally decided to test the quiet.

"What now?"

"I wanted to get out of here tonight, but with your head I don't think that's possible. We'll rest here."

"Wont they come looking for us? Surely they'll notice our absence and this will be somewhere they look."

"Why?"

"Someone must have heard us. We weren't exactly quiet when we were attacked."

"Nonsense." Rose shook her head. "You would have had to be quite near to hear. And besides, even if a student heard, they wouldn't admit to being outside after hours."

"Unless we were more important to them than detention..."

"Well then lets hope that if someone heard, it was a Slytherin."

We both laughed.

"What about your brother?"

"Al? What about him?"

"Aren't you sorry to be going?"

"It's not like I'll never see him again..."

"Unless you get killed."

"Hey! I thought you wanted me with you! I can turn right back around and tell them where you are! And anyway, you've got a brother too. Hugo needs you more than Al needs me."

"Oh yeah, Hugo..."

"We'll be fine. Honest." I smiled at her and she smiled faintly back.

"It would be worth it."

"What?"

"Dying..."

"Hows so?"

"I'd rather die trying to free an innocent person then live with it on my conscious."

"Well, don't expect me to be quite so chivalrous. I don't really want to die if I'm honest..."

"I didn't mean that." We sat in silence again. "You'd better get some sleep."

"What about you?"

"I'm not tired. I'll keep watch and wake you when I need sleep."

"'Kay." I lay back down and got into a comfortable position.

"Here." Rose handed me the Invisibility Cloak. I wrapped it around my body, it really was warm. "better?"

"Yeah... Rose...?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry." We were in complete darkness now, Rose had let the light of her wand die down.

"For what?"

"For not believing you. About Scorpius."

"That's ok. I wouldn't have believed it myself if I hadn't seen it."

"And i'm sorry for shouting at you the other night."

"Me too."

I decided to end the conversation there and shut my eyes. Rose didn't wake me.

**Like I said, I have a couple more chapters ready to be uploaded. I really hope you like them. Review? Please? It will only take up a minuet of your time and it would make my day :)**


	32. Gryffindors in my Common Room

**Author's Note:**

**As promised, here is the next chapter. It's not particularly long, but I promise the next one will be :) Please review and follow me!**

_Albus's Pov:_

"Al?"

"Go away Dominique!" I moaned, trying to get back to sleep. Who did Dominique think she was, waking me up!? Wait a minute... _Dominique _waking me up? In the _Slytherin _Dorm?

"Al, please wake up." And there was Freddie's voice. I opened my eyes. Sure enough, my cousins were standing around my bed, Freddie in an old, holey t shirt and trackies, Dominique wearing shorts and a crop top, a dressing gown slung round her shoulders. She hadn't even attempted to calm her frizzy ginger hair.

"What are you two doing here?"

"We need to tell you something, Al." Dominique's voice was too kind. Too full of sympathy.

"What's happened? Is Lily ok? What's happened to her?!"

"Nothing Al. Lily's fine."

"It's James, Al. And Rose." Now Freddie had my attention.

"What's happened? Are they hurt?"

"We don't know, Al. They've disappeared."

"Disappeared?"

"They've gone." Dominique said simply.

"James never came to bed last night. I just assumed he was with Lorna, but she hasn't seen him in days."

"And Rose's clothes are gone too."

"Half of James's stuff is missing."

"And, we couldn't help noticing that the Cloak's gone too. Do you know where it is?" I looked from Dominique to my trunk, which was lying open, revealing a stack of underwear. Normally I would have been embarrassed, but I was too busy noticing the gaping hole that should have been filled by my dad's cloak.

"I swear it was there yesterday..." Dominique nodded sadly.

"That's when they disappeared."

"You don't think they... ran off do you?"

"It looks like it."

"Where to?"

"Do you think we'd be having this conversation if we knew?" Freddie pointed out. I sat on my bed, staring into space. James. Rose. They were both gone. My own brother had abandoned me. First my sister and now my brother had left the school. I was the only Potter left, and it killed me.

Dominique sat down and held my hand.

"Al, they'll be found. Do you think our parents will rest until they're safe?" I didn't reply.

"Dom's right, Al. They'll be fine. We just wanted to let you know."

"Does my dad know? And my mum?"

"They both know. I think basically all the weasley's do."

"What are we doing then?"

"What?"

"Are we going to the Burrow?"

"Al, I think we just have to carry on here. Roxanne will be. And all the younger cousins. Hugo's staying."

"But they can't expect me to stay at school when James and Rose are out there in trouble!"

"We don't know they're in trouble, Al. They might have decided to leave..."

"Why would they do that? Without telling us?"

"Well, Rose has had a bit of a tough time... maybe he's helping her."

"I know that! But that doesn't seem a very good reason for them to just walk off!"

"We know it's upset you, Al. But you need to keep focused. Try and do well with these exams."

"You're lucky the Quidditch Match has been postponed. We'll need a new Beater-" Dominique gave Freddie a cold look and he immediately shut up. I didn't even have the energy to yell at him.

"I'm tired. I think I'll go back to bed."

"But, Al... it's ten. Lessons will be starting in an hour..."

"I don't care. I'm going back to bed. How did you get in here anyway?!"

"Alex let us in. It seems she wants to get back in your good books. She wouldn't let us in until we told her it was urgent and that you needed to know." And with that, they left me to contemplate on the news they had just bought.

**Next chapter coming up. Whilst I'm checking it, maybe review this one? And follow me if you don't already? I know I've had a lot of views and reviews and believe me I'm sooo grateful!**


	33. Heartbreaking News

**Author's Note:**

**This is the last one for tonight. Hopefully I should be able to upload another. I really hope you enjoy this one, it's one of my favourites so far, simply because it introduces all the Weasley's. Please review!**

_Teddy's Pov:_

It was seven in the morning when I heard Ginny scream. It was the soft, surprised scream rather than the terrified type. But I could still tell something was wrong.

I lifted my head from the striped pillow. What was the matter? I looked up at pale blue ceiling of my room. I was lucky to have it. I'd been begging Gran for ages to let me come and live here. She refused blatantly, but then she got diagnosed with cancer. That was when she finally agreed that seeing as she wasn't going to around much longer to look after me, it would be best if I moved in with Harry and the Potter's.

Harry had asked an old friend of his, Luna Lovegood-Scamander, to decorate it, and she'd done an amazing job.

So when my peaceful sleep was ruined by screams, I was up in an instant, grabbing my wand as I ran down the stairs in nothing but my boxers and a long, tea stained shirt, struggling to haul a pair of sweatpants on as I did so.

"What's happened?" I asked as I ran into the modern kitchen. Ginny was sat at the counter, a wet tissue scrunched in her hand, Harry stood behind her, one arm wrapped around her back.

"We've just had an owl from McGonagall." Harry told me and handed my over a letter. As I scanned trough it, I felt my heart sink. There, in scratchy shark handwriting that had almost punctured the page was confirmation that James and Rose were gone.

"Gone where?" I asked as I looked up from the letter after reading it another two times.

"We can only guess." Ginny sniffled.

"What was he thinking!?" Harry exclaimed as he banged his fist against the table.

"Harry. Calm down. We have to trust that James made this decision for some reason, and we need to believe it was the right choice." Ginny told him, dabbing her eyes. "Teddy, can you tell the others the news? McGonagall said she hadn't contacted Ron yet. They need to know."

"Sure. I'll go to the Burrow. Have everyone meet me there." I gave Harry a reassuring pat on the shoulder and hugged Ginny. "It will turn out to be a mistake, you know. One of James's pranks or something."

"If it is, I'll kill him." Ginny chuckled through tears. I smiled as I disapparated, leaving Harry to message the others through Floo Powder. I understood their need to be alone. They were going to try to work out where James and Rose had gone, of that I was sure. It was the least I could do to keep the others informed.

"Teddy! What a lovely surprise!" Molly Weasley's bubbly, welcoming voice.

"I'm afraid it's really not that lovely, Mrs Weasley."

"Oh?"

"Just expect the whole family to turn up in a minute or two."

"What? Why?"

"I'll tell you once everyone gets here. It will be less complicated to explain to everyone at once."

"Molly?" Arthur's voice echoed through the corridor. "Bill's just arrived. Were you expecting him?" Molly looked at me and yelled a reply.

"Apparently so! Just send everyone this way!"

Before I knew it, Bill, Fleur, Louis (Victoire was at her night shift at St Mungo's), Charlie, Percy and Audrey, George and Angelina, Ron and Hermione.

"What is this all about?" Percy asked me. "Harry just told us to come here at once."

"Is it about Lily?" Angelina asked, worried.

"I've got bad news."

"Oh god! What's happened?!" Molly cried.

"It's not about Lily... It's about James... and Rose." I looked carefully at Hermione and Ron. Sure enough, they were going pale.

"Has she...?" Hermione whispered. I understood at once what she was worried about. Had Rose tried to take her own life again?

"No. Nothing like that. It seems as though both her and James have vanished. Just packed their bags and left Hogwarts." There was silence for a second whilst people registered what I'd just said, and then a roar of questions deafened the living room.

"I'm sorry! I don't know anymore than that!"

"SILENCE!" We all looked at Molly, who had now gone red like a naughty child finally found out. "Sorry, but it worked on you as children..."

"We need to get a search party together." George said. "Go to Hogwarts and start looking." There were murmurs of agreement.

"I need to speak to Harry." Said Ron.

"They wanted to be alone-"

"Fuck that. My daughter has just disappeared with their son! I need to talk to him!" I simply nodded, ignoring the fact that Ron had just lost his temper. He always did when these things happened. Not that I blamed him.

"Ron and I will go to Harry. If the rest of you could go to Hogwarts and talk to McGonagall, we would appreciate it. If you need to get sleep," She looked at Charlie who she knew had just got back from a two day hike in Sweden. "Then we understand."

"Don't be ridiculous, Hermione. This is far more important than a couple of hours sleep."

"Besides, we could hardly sleep now." Bill pointed out.

"So, it's decided." Percy said. "Teddy, take Ron and Hermione to Harry, and then meet us at Hogwarts." I nodded, secretly livid at the way they were treating me like a child! I was 20 years old for Christ sakes! Even Louis got more responsibilities than me, and he has only just turned 18! The Weasley's began to disapparate and I directed Ron and Hermione to a corner of the house.

"You must understand that they are not in any danger that we know of."

"I don't care, Teddy! I need to find my daughter!" I didn't bother disagreeing with Ron and a second later we were in the kitchen of the Potters' again.

"Teddy? What happened?"

"They said they needed to speak to you."

"Thank you Teddy." Ginny smiled at me and I knew I was dismissed. This was _too important _for me to be involved. Instead I stalked moodily back to my room, noticing in the mirror that might hair had turned a vibrant red.

Some people wear their hearts on their sleeves. I wear mine on my head.

**So I thought I'd mix it up a bit by giving this one from Teddy's point of view. Please dont tell me that Teddy's age is wrong. I know that strictly speaking if James was 17/18, Teddy would be a lot older, but I always picture him as a very young adult. But still review! Just not with that! Thanks!**


	34. Four Sets of Footprints

**Author's Note:**

**God, it's been ages since I updated! I am so sorry! Hopefully this chapter will make up for that though... I'll try and write more today. It's my Half Term so that should mean I get more done. Happy Halloween! :D**

_**James's Pov:**_

"James! James, wake up! James!" Rose whispered currently in my ear. I sat up, dragged from my dream.

"What? What's wrong?"

"You were right. They did think to look here. I think they're in the tunnel."

"Who?"

"I don't know! McGonagall or someone!"

"Shit!"

"Quickly! Under the cloak!" I scrambled to my feet and flung the cloak over the pair of us. Just in time too, because as we disappeared under the fabric, Al burst through the door concealing the tunnel.

"James?" He whispered. "James? Are you there?" I held my breath. "They're coming James. Mum and Dad. If your there... just know that we are all so worried about you..." He paused, expecting a reply. I turned to Rose, my eyes pleading. I had to say something! She shook her head. I turned back to look at my brother.

"James? Please..." He whispered hoarsely. When there was no reply, he gave in. Simply slumped against the wall and burst into tears. That was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, except maybe watching Rose jump into the water.

"Al? Al? Are you there?" Dominique's voice came from within the tunnel. Al hastily wiped the tears from his face. "Al? Oh- there you are! Are you... are you ok?"

"I'm fine." My brother mumbled.

"Oh al!" Dominique sighed and pulled him to his feet. "Come here you!" She gave him a hug, squeezing him into the famous Dominique Boa Constrictor embrace. "He'll be fine. They'll both be fine. And I promise," She pulled him out of the hug and held him in front of her, her hands on his shoulders. "I promise Al, we will find them."

"Will we?" Al muttered, pulling away from Dominique and walking over to the dusty window. With a single wipe of his hand, he had smeared the window, rubbing away the layers of dust leaving behind a view of Hogsmeade. "They're out there somewhere, aren't they Dom?"

"Yeah, somewhere out there." She said, coming to stand behind him.

"If James doesn't want to e found, he won't be found. You do know that, right?"

"I know James well enough to know that he wouldn't desert his family. Especially not you. You mean a lot to I'm, even if he doesn't show it."

"Whatever. James has hated me ever since the Sorting Hat told me I was in Slytherin. To him I'm a traitor."

"Victoire got put in Slytherin too. And James doesn't hate her."

"That's because James had a crush on her when he was eight!" Al said, suddenly bursting into a grin.

"Really? That's disgusting!"

"I know! They're cousins! But he was only eight..."

"I guess... Still, next time I see him, I'm going to ask him about it. He will never hear the end of it if Freddie finds out!"

"Yeah..."

"Anyway, have you searched this place? Are they here?"  
"Do you think we'd be standing here talking if they were?"

"I guess..."

"DOM! AL! UNCLE HARRY'S JUST ARRIVED! WE NEED TO GET BACK TO THE SCHOOL!" Freddie called.

Dad was here.

"Coming!" Dominique shouted. She grabbed Albus's hand and with one fleeting look back at the house, they were gone. Would I ever see them again?

"Well, that was close." Rose said matter-of-factly as she revealed us from under the cloak.

"Too right. We should get a move on."

"Yeah. But first, we need to eat."

"Good idea! I'm starving!"

"Me too. Right, let's see what I've got in here..." She reached into her rucksack and began rummaging around. She came out with a handful of packets. "I got the House Elves to order some snacks." She explained. "Here, have a Cauldron Cake and a chocolate frog." She threw the snacks at me.

"This is breakfast?" I asked, my voice full of doubt, waving the snacks in the air.

"Yes."

"If I eat this for breakfast I'll get fat..."

"You'll put on a little weight! It will do you some good, skinny arse!" She chuckled, tucking in to her own Cauldron Cake. Finally I gave in, deciding that if I did put on weight, Quidditch would take it off again. I opened my Chocolate Frog.

"Who'd you get?"

"Remus Lupin." I read off the card. I flipped it over and saw the figure of tired looking man with severe scars on his face. "This is Teddy's dad."

"Yeah. What does it say?"

"_Remus John Lupin, former member of the Order of the Phoenix, suffered from the Werewolf's Bite. Remus Lupin gave his life whilst fighting for his cause. His wife, Nymphodora Tonks, was also a victim of the Battle of Hogwarts, leaving her mother, Andromeda Tonks (nee Black) to look after their son, Teddy John Lupin._"

"They could have made it slightly lighter."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, on dad's, it talks about Dad being a fan of the Cannons, and being really good a Wizards Chess. I wonder what Teddy's dad was good at..."

"Who did you get?"

"My dad. Again. He makes us keep every one of his cards we get. I think he's framed them all."

I chuckled, imagining my Uncle smiling proudly at a wall covered in his face, grinning back at him. I noticed Rose slip the card into her back trouser pocket. She had a smile drawn across her face, but for some reason it looked fake, sad even. As though simply talking about her dad had depressed her. I began to wonder if Rose had a clue what she was doing. Hadn't she known the sacrifices we were both making to do this? Was she not prepared to risk losing her family?

"So, where now?" I asked and she looked up, pulled away from her thoughts.

"Oh... um... I've got it all planned."

"Well would you like to share it with me?" Rose sighed and crouched on the floor. I did the same. She licked her finger and began drawing on the dusty floorboards.

"First we need to head through the mountains. That should take a couple of days at the most. Once we've passed those we'll be close enough to the Bracken Forest to get shelter before we're spotted by the town about two miles from the edge. If we're on time we should be able to get through the whole forest in a day which leads us to Stormy Bay. Then we just have to work out how to get through the North Sea."

"You mean you haven't got a plan?"

"Not really. I'll work on it while we're walking."

"Rose, how the hell are we going to get through fifty miles of water to the most heavily guarder prison in the world?"

"I told you, I'll work something out!"

"You better had." I mumbled. She glared at me.

"Now we have to get out of here before they come looking again. We cant use the tunnel incase they're still inside and I don't think getting out on the side that faces Hogsmeade would be a good idea- someone might see us and report to school. No, I think the only way is the East Wall." She shoved open one of the door that lead off from the main hall. Inside the room was barren. A single Four Poster Bed sat firmly in one corner, although for some reason it had been broken. The curtains had collapsed onto the mattress and the wood had snapped. Apart from that was a dusty pool table. The balls were missing, I noticed.

"look here James!" Rose gasped.

"What is it?"

"Prints. Four of them." I walked over to where Rose was standing and saw them for myself. Four sets of prints. They looked ancient, maybe decades old. One set were tiny, like a mouse or small rodent, judging by the tiny steps this creature had made. The next two prints were very similar, both dog like. One was twice the size of the other. And last were hoof prints.

"A horse?" I asked.

"no way! A horse wouldn't be able to fit through the door." Now that I looked, they were everywhere. Covering the floor in fact. I walked back out into the hall and sure enough they were there too.

"Something must live here..."

"Nonsense, there is nothing here. It was probably the ghosts."

"Ghosts? You don't seriously believe those rumours do you?"

"Well, what else could be here? We haven't seen any food."

"But they look old. It might have been twenty years ago."

"Either way, we need to get a move on." Rose walked back into the empty room and went over to one of the windows. "We're about six meters from the ground. Can you jump that?"

"Easy."

"Good." She began heaving the latch. "It won't budge!"

"Give it here!" I took the latch from her. "It goes up, not down." I pulled the latch up and the window swung open. Rose sniffed, embarrassed. I grinned. "I'll go first then." I lifted myself onto the ledge and jumped, landing on the soaking grass. My legs bent but I stayed on two feet. "Coming?!" I called up to Rose. She smiled back at me and launched herself from the window, landing gracefully next to me.

"Let's go." She said and together we walked, our back turned to Hogwarts. We weren't going back.

**Please give me a review! Or favourite me or something if you like this fanfic… seeing as you're reading the 34th chapter I'm going to guess you don't mind it… So please, review!**

**Urgh, word is being annoying and changing words from the British spelling to the American spelling! So, sorry if the spelling is weird in this chapter. :)**


	35. Extinction Proved Wrong

**Author's Note:**

**Just a quick chapter I wrote because it's been ages. The second part would be coming up straight away but I'm so busy with work I have no time. Sorry, but here's some compensation. It's not the most amazing chapter, but like I said, in an ideal world it would have been twice as long. Oh well, review?**

_Rose's Pov:_

It had been three days since we'd started the walk through the mountains. Three days! I hadn't anticipated it taking this long! James was moody and tired and to be honest, I wasn't feeling too good myself.

"How much longer?!" James moaned. He'd been doing it nonstop for three hours.

"James, I've told you, I don't know. But we're going the right way."

"God Rose! I don't care if we're going the right way! I'm just fucking tired of these bloody mountains!" He yelled and kicked a small stone with his boot. Suddenly there was a shudder.

"Did you just do that?" I asked James.

"You think a stone could do that? Whatever that was must be huge." We'd stopped now, staring into the evening sky. Nothing above us. I looked around us. Nope, nothing there either.

"Come on, let's just keep moving."

"What if it turns out to be something important?"

"I thought you wanted to get out of the mountains James?"

"Yeah, I do!"

"Then keep moving!"

"Fine! We keep moving!" And with that he began running off through the grass and rocks covering the mountainside.

"Aw, James, I didn't mean it like that! James! Come back! Don't be such a grump!" He didn't give me so much as a glance back. I groaned and began running after him. Where did he get his energy from? True, he'd had a lot more sleep than I had in the last few days. Over four nights I'd had maybe six hours sleep. I could feel the bags under my eyes weighing down my eyelids. "Where did he go?" I muttered to myself as I heard a cry. "James?" I called. Had it been him? I couldn't tell. I waited silently to see if it would sound again. Sure enough, there was the cry. I began to follow the sound, occasionally calling my cousins name.

"James?" I whispered loudly.

"Rose? Quickly, come here!" Finally, James responded.

"Where is here?"

"Behind these rocks!" I looked over to a crowd of boulders arranged in a pile and cautiously crept up to them, pulling my wand from my pocket.

"What are you- Oh shit!" My cousin had a cut down the side of his face and was holding his ankle tentatively.

"Just get down here quick!" James urged. I dived down between the two rocks he was hiding in.

"What happened?"

"Giants!"

"What? But giants are extinct! In this country at least!"

"That's what I thought too, but I've just had a rather unfortunate run in with some."

"How many were there?"

"I saw three. I tried going back but one noticed me and decided it would be fun to try and step on me. When it realised I wasn't going to let that happen it got angry and grabbed me by the ankle." He touched his ankle and grimaced. "It had a hard grip." I pulled up his trouser leg and slowly felt his ankle, ignoring his pained moans.

"It's not broken, maybe cracked. Can you walk on it?"

"I don't know..."

"What happened to your face?"

"The giant threw me and I landed on a pile of boulders."

"Ouch."

"Yep." I sighed and grabbed the sleeve of my top, ripping to pieces from the fabric.

"What are you doing?"

"We need you to get better, so I'm making a bandage." I tied the piece of black fabric around his swelling ankle and pulled it tightly.

"Watch it!" He said before swearing.

"Sorry, but in the long run, it will make you feel better." Then I took the next piece of material and lifted my wand to it. "_Aguamenti." _The cloth was suddenly wet. I put it to James's forehead. He winced but didn't object. Once it was clean, the wound didn't look anywhere near as bad as before.

"Why couldn't you just fix my ankle with magic" James asked.

"Because it's not broken, like I said." I pointed out. "Now come on, let's get going." We'd barely walked more than ten steps when the shuddering started again. "Run!" I yelled and legged it into the safety of the trees. Little did I realise that James wasn't following.

"James? James? James!" I yelled running back through the forest and out into the open. Suddenly James was in front of me, whizzing past and grabbing my arm as he sprinted off.

"Quick! There's more of them!" I turned my head as I sprinted blindly down the side of a mountain to see a dozen giants stomping after us.

"Oh shit…" I turned and ran faster than I ever had before, my feet thudding as I tried not to fall. And still the giants were chasing us. I turned and held my wand up. "_Stupefy! Stupefy!_"

**Next part hopefully coming soon :) Review please!**


	36. Hopeless

**Author's Note:**

**It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry but I've had multiple exams to revise for. The good news- I didn't fail! Anyway, this is a very short chapter. The shortest one I've ever done I think... But that is because of the content. I hope you like it, even though it is very short. I felt it suited the chapter because there isnt much for Scorpius to say in Azkaban. Enjoy and I'll try and write some more :)**

_Scorpius's Pov:_

Which day was it? I'd lost count. Monday? Tuesday? It must have been two weeks since I'd been left here. At least, if not more. I hadn't seen a soul in all that time. Although I'd heard enough for one lifetime. In Azkaban, it's never silent. Ever. There was always someone screaming, someone moaning. You'd think that was the worst it got. But you'd be wrong. I hated the screams, but it was the senseless mutters of the inmates that shook me to the core. People who were once great magicians... Turned into insane animals. Would I turn out like that? Probably. One day here was enough to make anyone crazy. And I'd lost weight. A lot of weight. If going crazy wasn't enough, the prison guards decided it'd be funny to starve us to death as well.

I wasn't getting out. I knew that now. I'd never see anything again. Well, nothing worth seeing anyway. My family. My friends. Rose. All gone. Taken from me. It wasn't fair. But what was the point of moaning. Nobody would hear me. The only thing keeping me sane was Rose, and the thought that she was still alive and well. I missed her more than I had ever thought humanly possible.

I felt my eyelids slowly closing. I uttered one word before I fell into a deep sleep.

"Rose."

**Hopefully the next bit will be published soon. Review?**


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